


Significant Souls

by WingedLadyColette



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Rebirth, Reborn - Freeform, mother - Freeform, parent-child, son - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2015-03-18
Packaged: 2018-02-18 01:21:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 41,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2330057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WingedLadyColette/pseuds/WingedLadyColette
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's during the Fourth Great Shinobi war when Sakura gets a visit from two very unlikely men. Something is coming and they need the Fourth Hokage to stop it. And he has chosen Sakura to help him be reborn. Will she be able to say goodbye to everything and everyone she has ever loved, or will she crumble beneath the shadow of some unseen force?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: So, here is another story! Sorry, I am just so excited for this one! Let me know what you think, enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None, maybe just language.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, Goddess OF Deaths is the one that came up with the idea for the story and approached me to write it! 
> 
> Word Count: 4,358

The sounds of explosions off in the distance. The summer heat leaves the air thick and hard to breath in. The battlefield is filled with kicked up dust and residual chakra from jutsu. The smell of blood is strong back at the medical tents. Men and women, shinobi and human volunteers from all allied nations run around trying their hardest to save as many lives as possible to get them back out into the battle.

Sakura has long since forgotten how long they've been battling the Zetsu army and Madara, who, from recent reports coming in, isn't Madara? Sakura can't decern all of the hectic hearsay coming in by men and women who are flirting with death and are in too much pain to think clearly. She worries, listening closely for any news of her friends but mostly nothing. Occasionally she would hear of Shikamaru and Ino relaying orders and that Naruto has appeared on the battlefield with Killer Bee, but nothing concrete.

The young pink haired girl moves around the medical tents, beads of sweat working down her back and neck. She moves swiftly, lungs working, her hands are full of bandages and medical tape. An anxiously waiting nurse, spots her and waves her over frantically. Sakura follows her into the room to a screaming Leaf Village shinobi who's missing his left arm. She moves over to his side, laying down the supplies on the nearby table and begins to work with expert detachment. She murmurs soft, soothing words, while repairing as much of the damage as possible, but without the missing arm, he can no longer be any help out in the battlefield.

Sakura steps away to wash the blood from her hands, her head is light and the world is spinning. She glances over at the motionless body on the table. A nurse is pulling a sheet over him. Sakura has to look away. It's getting harder and harder for her to heal simple wounds. She hasn't gotten more than a small cat naps since this entire war started. It's worn her down physically and mentally. Her chakra reserves have been riding nonexistent for the past three days and she is beyond annoyed or grouchy from lack of sleep and exhaustion.

She's no better than a walking corpse. It's hard for her to feel any sort of emotion at any given time. She can go through the motions, but she can't bring herself to really feel anything.

Finally, another break in the battle, where both sides pull back to plan out the next course of attack. Sakura uses this time to slip away just outside of the camp to find a nice quiet rock to sleep on away from the stench of sweat, blood, infection and death. Sakura's butt hits the rock far harder then she would have liked and she manages a small flinch before it becomes too tiring to feel much else. She reaches up and pulls her headband and hair-tie from her nasty pink locks and run her hands through the greasy strands, cringing at the feel.

When was the last time Sakura even considered showering? Well, she's deeply considering it now and has to use more strength than necessary to pull herself to her feet and make her way to the nearby river. She might not get another chance like this in a long time. She's not going to waste it. She stumbles downstream a bit to ensure she doesn't pollute the water they use to clean wounds with her body oils and peels her nasty clothes from her. Another doctor she recognizes nods to the fifteen year old as she carries a bucket of water back to the medical tents.

The cold water gives Sakura a chill but wakes her up some. She is quick to clean her hair and body and calls out thanks to one of the assistant nurses for bringing her a small bar of soap and some new clothes. Thankful, she thoroughly cleans her body and hair with the soap, not at all minding that it wasn't the scented shampoo and body wash that she had become so used to. She's just thankful for being able to clean herself.

After about twenty minutes the young pink haired girl pulls herself from the cool water and into the hot air and quickly dresses. She makes her way over to the rock she fell onto earlier and lowers herself a little more gracefully. She runs her long, worn fingers through the clean pink locks, wondering if the humidity is going to make it take forever for her short hair to dry.

Her thin fingers get caught in every single knot that has formed in her hair. After pulling out a few good chunks of hair, Sakura cuts her losses and pulls it back up into it's elastic prison and pulls her 'ninja' headband back on before curling over her knees and closing her eyes. Hoping to get just a few minutes of shut-eye.

 

"Ms. Haruno! Lady Sakura, where are you?"

Sakura jumps from her curled up position, her entire body aching from being in the same position for a long period of time. A series of pops and cracks work their way through all her joints. She flinches, mind momentarily pulled from a haze. She looks around to see a bunch of nurses running over to her, they are sweating and panting. As soon as they reach her, each begin telling her about patients that need her.

In a daze, Sakura follows them back to the camp. She can barely understand anything that any of them are saying to her. A fog settling in over her brain. She looks up at the crescent moon, high in the sky. It's about midnight. Sakura at least got a few hours of sleep, but now her body feels like it's working through molasses. Her muscles are caked in mud and it's a nightmare to try and move any single inch of her body.

It hurts to just think. Sakura's body just goes through the motions of helping people, her mind has shut down long ago. Her orders come out quiet and robotic and she can't even pretend she doesn't notice the worried looks sent her way. But no one says anything, no one tries to stop her because she is Lady Tsunade's student. By far the best medical shinobi that they have on staff at the moment. Sakura is pulled back and forth across the entire camp from one life threatening shinobi to another because she's the only one with the skills to get them out of there quick enough.

Four hours. That's how long Sakura got to sleep. It's the longest she's had in a long time but while their side was planning the next stage of attack, they were caught off guard and sustained many casualties. It's at times like this where Sakura wished there was a hundred of her. This war is becoming fuzzy in her head. Morning comes back around and Sakura's been on her feet for hours.

When she finally clocks into reality, she's wrist deep into a Mist Village shinobi's gut, healing a hole punched almost right through him. She makes silent but efficient work healing up all the organ damage before pulling her hands out and making quick work of sewing his wound shut before leaving to let the nurses bandage him up while she cleans herself up.

Sakura turns around and takes two toward the opening in the tent when her legs give out and she lands hard on her knees. Sakura's world spins around her. She can hear people calling out to her but it's like her ears are filled with cotton. The sun beats down on her even through the tent. Her mind immediately does a diagnostic check. She's famished and dehydrated. Her chakra levels are almost zero. She's running on fumes. When was the last time she really took take of herself? Sakura doesn't have the strength to stop herself from falling unconscious.

 

When Sakura slips back into consciousness feeling better than she has for a long time. She's curled up on her side feeling warm and safe. Someone is gently touching her hair, petting it back. It's a familiar act, one that her mother used to do when Sakura was young. When she was sick, or had a bad day, her mother would sit up in her room and pet her hair down, much like this and it never ceased to make her feel better.

The hand moves away along with it's affectionate touch and Sakura whimpers quietly. What she wouldn't give to be back in her own room, with her normally abrasive mother being tender towards her in the once in a blue moon when it occurred.

Sakura opens her eyes slowly to see that she's at the last place she expected to be. Training ground 7 is exactly as she remembered it. The three posts a few yards away from her, the lake right next to her. She reaches out to touch the water, remembering the chill it used to hold from many a times being tossed in there by both Kakashi-sensei and later Lady Tsunade, from the few times that they trained there.

But she doesn't feel anything. Even the coarse grass beneath her has no feeling. Sakura's brows pull together in confusion when she spots someone standing in the center of the water, facing her.

"Interesting that this would be the place your mind comes to in it's moment of desired peace," a soft male voice says. Sakura's head jerks up at the man in front of her. Even more confused.

"Naruto?" She says softly, before her eyes widen and she climbs to her feet, taking a step toward the tall blond. "Naruto! Oh thank kami that you're okay!"

Naruto smiles faintly, almost sadly, but it's a voice behind her that speaks, "Not quite Naruto."

Sakura turns around in confusion before her jaw drops. "Master Jiraiya! How...? When...? Where...?" She waves her hands around, unable to fish the needed words from the air. "But, I thought that you were...?" Her eyes widen as her limbs grow heavy and fall to her sides. She stares back at the old sage sitting atop of one of the posts now just feet from her with his arms and legs crossed. He smiles sadly. "But you... died..." Sakura says softly.

"I did," he admits, his voice is soft and low. "Not as fun as it sounds, though. I suggest not trying it for at least a hundred more years."

Sakura wanted to smile at his words but she couldn't her entire body is filling with this cold sensation. "Did I die?" Her voice is soft and it cracks slightly. Her eyes widen and she spins around to look at her blond teammate. "Naruto! I-" she stops, eyes widening even more. The man staring back at her isn't her teammate. He lacks the three facial scars on both his cheeks and he's taller than even Naruto with smaller blue eyes and a thinner face. His hair is longer than Naruto's and bushier, two bits of hair long enough to frame his handsome face.

Sakura's green eyes take in the jounin vest, Konoha headband and the long, white, short sleeve jacket with red flames on the bottom. Sakura falls to her knee and bows her head, staring at the ground with huge eyes. Her mind racing. "L-Lord Fourth... I am so sorry for m-my disrespect... I didn't... I mean, I thought you were someone else." Sakura shakes her head. The similarities between the Fourth and Naruto were astounding. She truly mistook the Hokage for her goofy teammate. She must be more tired then she thought.

"No, it's alright, Lady Sakura," the Fourth says, walking over the water toward the bowing girl. "Please, stand. There is much we must discuss."

"Discuss?" Sakura murmurs, standing back up, slowly. "Did I die?" she asks again, dreading the answer. But she has to know for sure. Sakura knew she was running herself into an early grave with the way she wasn't taking care of herself during the war, but they needed her at all times, she couldn't slack off. Not for a single moment.

"No," Jiraiya says. "You are very much alive, Sakura. Out cold, currently, but you're in good hands." Sakura lets out a long winded sigh of relief. At least she wasn't dead. "You really were working yourself to the bone out there, Tsunade Jr."

Jiraiya said those words affectionately, but Sakura flushed in embarrassment. "I know. Master would be really upset with me if she knew."

"Ha, tell her that she's no better," Jiraiya says, laughing.

The Fourth steps up next to Sakura, tilting his head slightly. Sakura looks up at him. Yes, he's definitely taller than Naruto, probably about as tall as Sasuke. Maybe even a bit taller. "I admire medical shinobi and their selflessness," the Fourth says thoughtfully. "Shinobi are creatures of death and destruction yet medical shinobi dedicate their lives to saving people. The exact opposite of a shinobi duty. It's admirable."

Sakura blushes, intimidated by being so close to the handsome, young Hokage. "Thank you, my lord. That... means a lot coming form you. But, if I'm not dead, what am I doing... here?" she looks around, now certain that this is just an image of the training ground she used to train in as a small girl. Moreso with Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 than with Lady Tsunade.

"This is where your mind sought out safety in your dreams," Jiraiya says. "We could have ended up anywhere, but your mind chose here."

"Why?" Sakura asks, not all that sure she understands.

"It means something to you," the Fourth says. "This area brings your mind peace."

Sakura looks around the area again, noting all it's faults, how it's a poor example of the place that she does truly love. But her mind is quick to mold it into the land that she remembers. But it's not enough. It's all in her head. What she wouldn't give to actually be there now. Thirteen years old just staring out with Kakashi as her new sensei and Sasuke and Naruto her newly made teammates.

All three occupants watch in silence as an image appears next to them. Kakashi leaning lazily next to the post Jiraiya's sitting on, his nose buried in one of his pervy books, but he's looking at them over the top, as he often did when he didn't think that they noticed. But Sakura did. She knew that the lazy legend wanted to keep them safe, wanted to make them strong, but he didn't really know how. So he settled for watching them and learning how they worked.

Three smaller versions of Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto sit cross-legged in front of their sensei. All of them are trying to concentrate on meditating.

Sakura's eyebrows pull together as she stares at the younger version of herself. "That's not right. We didn't meet Kakashi-sensei until we were about thirteen. We're all eight here."

"It doesn't have to be correct," Jiraiya says. "It's all just in your head. Now, Sakura, listen, we have to talk."

Sakura stares at the younger versions of herself and her two teammates, wanting to ask more about what is going on with the image, but that's ultimately not what is important. She looks to the old sage nodding slowly. In the corner of her eye she can see them vanish into thin air, as if they were never there to begin with.

"You're right, Master Jiraiya, I'm ready. Why are you and Lord Fourth here? In my head, I mean," Sakura asks. She runs a hand through her pink locks looking between the two men.

"Sakura, something is coming," Jiraiya says, pushing himself off of the post to stand in front of the small medical shinobi. "This entire war between the Zetsu armies and the Shinobi alliance is just another chapter leading up to the actual issue. Something is coming, and it's nastier than any of what you have seen before. Anything we've seen before."

"Yes, the Moon Eye Plan. Madara is going to cast the world into a genjutsu. That's what we are fighting to prevent," Sakura says. Her stomach plummets when she notices Jiraiya lack of relief at their knowledge of the evil mastermind's plan.

"That plan will fail," the Fourth says. "It is inevitable. Naruto is the Child of Destiny meant to stop this plan from coming to fruition. But the real threat follows the war, it lingers under the guise of peace, bubbling beneath the surface. It can only be considered a great evil over the horizon. No one can see it because of the shadow cast over it by this foolish war."

"What is this great evil?" Sakura asks, feeling sickened by this entire thing.

Jiraiya shakes his head, a dark look on his face. "We don't know, Sakura. We just don't know."

"If Naruto is the Child of Destiny, can't he stop this? Why are you telling me this? What do I have to do with this?" Sakura asks, wanting to take a step away from the two men, wanting to put some space between them, but her legs feel like they are being held in place by cement.

"Everything," Jiraiya says cryptically. "This has everything to do with you."

"How?" Sakura croaks, but Jiraiya shakes his head, eyebrows pulled together sadly. She waits a fleeting moment, wondering if he will suddenly know the answer and explain it. But he doesn't. He stares back at her with this look that says it all. He's sorry, but he doesn't have the answers that she seeks. He just needs her to trust him and accept it. "I don't understand," Sakura says quietly, sinking to her feet.

Sudden anger floods through her. Why give her partial answers? Why give her sad looks without fully explaining what they mean? Why would they go into this without knowing all the answers themselves? Why put the burden of not knowing on her shoulders and push her towards an omnious looking future without even the slightest bit of clarity other than "a great evil"?

But her anger drains as she stares into the sad dark eyes of the man who looked after her teammate and friend and became a father figure to Naruto.

"You must be ready," the Fourth says. "This great evil cannot be stopped with the shinobi that live now. I must be alive and aid in the battle. But in order to come back to life, I need your help."

Sakura started shaking her head right around the time the Fourth said that he had to be alive and help fight. "That's impossible. There is no way to bring the dead back to life... er, I mean, the way you are asking." Her mind bringing forth memories of Lady Chiyo and how she did what Sakura thought was impossible. She had brought Gaara back from the dead. Unfortunately, that technique died with the Hidden Sand elder.

The Fourth smiles faintly. "I am quite aware of the boundaries of life and death. But there is a way around it. I can give you my soul. Through you, I can live." Sakura stares back at him, perplexed, her mind racing with the possibilities, but nothing makes sense. How in the world does the Fourth Hokage plan on living through her? "Only you are capable of housing my soul," Minato adds, like that was suppose to clear up any and all confusion. It didn't.

Sakura shakes her head again. "There is no way your soul can live within my body, I already have a soul," she says slowly as if the concept would be hard for him to understand. He stares at her with the same sad look so she clarifies, "My soul."

"Think harder," he says softly, he stares down at her with familiar blue eyes. So similar to those of her beloved friend. Sakura swallows the sadness and stares back at the older man.

Sakura sighs, dropping her head into her hands for a moment before looking up at the handsome, young kage. "There isn't another way," she says but right as she does the answer pops into her head. The only way for him to be reborn is for him to be reborn. Sakura stares up at the young Hokage in confusion, he must have been able to read her look because he nods solemnly to her unspoken words. "But... how? How would we do that?" He smiles so sadly that Sakura could see this wasn't easy for him.

"I will use a seal to bind my soul to you and when the time comes, inhabit the body that will grow within you," he says softly.

"With this," Jiraiya says suddenly, drawing Sakura's attention to the tall white haired man, "all the nations will be saved and you will also be protected." Sakura pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. Jiraiya hesitates a moment before adding, "This will save everyone, Sakura. We need this."

Sakura nods slowly in defeat before steeling herself. She was a loyal shinobi to the Hidden Leaf and so long as she thought of this as just another mission to protect it and the people it protects and is allied with. She can do this.

The Fourth Hokage kneels down in front of her and quietly asks that she lift her shirt. Sakura blushes. This is the first time anyone had every asked her for such a thing, but this was important and not something she should be treating as anything other than the up most seriousness. With that thought in mind, she sombers and straightens up. She obeys, revealing the smooth plane of her flat stomach. The Fourth reaches out and touches her abdomen and it begins to glow a bright white. Sakura's body flushes hot, then cold before the kneeling man disappeared into nothing.

The young medical shinobi looks around confused. She looks to Jiraiya for an explanation but he's looking up at the false sky, mumbling something under his breath to himself. He sighs and lowers his head to stare at the girl.

"You're going to wake up soon," Jiraiya says walking over to the small girl. "Sakura, listen closely. Are you listening?" Sakura nods. "As soon as you wake up, you must go. You must raise Minato's soul in secret. No one must know that he will be reborn-" Jiraiya hesitates for a slip second before making up his mind. "No, strike that. Only Tsunade many know, do you understand? No one else. Not Naruto, not Kakashi, no one."

Sakura shakes her head. "How am I to avoid them knowing if I'm in the village with..." her eyes widen and it feels like she's been punched in the gut. "Are you saying I have to leave Konoha?" Jiraiya nods solemnly, looking sad by it. "No! This is wrong! I am not leaving Konoha! If the Fourth's soul will save us, then he must stay within the Leaf Village!"

"Sakura, no. Listen to me. No one must know that he is being reborn, okay? If he is going to be able to save anyone he has to live long enough to regain his memories," Jiraiya says, gripping Sakura's shoulders tightly. Sakura shakes her head, wanting to believe that there is some other way to raise the Fourth's soul within the village, but every tiny suggestion she whispers out just earns her a shake of Jiraiya's head.

"I can't leave my home," Sakura croaks. The mere thought of leaving Konoha for at the very least thirteen years to when he's considered old enough by shinobi standers to start making his own decisions. Hopefully by then he will have regained his memories and be able to tell Sakura what to do next. Just thinking that made Sakura realize that she doesn't have a choice. If she has to do this to protect all of the people she loves, then what is a few years away?

"I'm sorry, Sakura," Jiraiya says. "I'm so sorry."

The small pink haired girl smiles sadly. "I am... ready to go, Master Jiraiya." She hesitates. "Are you sure I can't say anything to Naruto? Only Lady Tsunade?"

"Only Tsunade," Jiraiya says. "Now go, Sakura, and please, be careful."

Sakura nods slowly, smiling forcefully, trying to hide her nerves. This will be the first time away from her friends and family. Naruto is going to be going crazy. What is she going to do if she runs into him and he begs her to come home? Will she be able to have a strong enough resolve to fight him on it? Sakura wouldn't be able to think so. She'll just have be careful and stay under the radar.

Kami, Sakura can't believe that she is actually thinking this through. She is going to leave her village. Her family. She is going to abandon her friends in the middle of war time. Tsunade would never let her go. How will she ever convince her stubborn Master of something she herself is so uneasy about? Sakura presses her lips tightly together and bows respectfully to the old sage.

"Good luck," Jiraiya's voice is soft and when Sakura looks up, everything goes black.


	2. Say Goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: And here is the next chapter! Thank you all so much for your kind words! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None, maybe just language.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing, Goddess OF Deaths is the one that came up with the idea for the story and approached me to write it!
> 
> Word Count: 4,889

Sakura opens her eyes and feels like she's going to puke. The smell of death, blood and chemicals are too strong. Sakura's hand flies up to her face and she swallows down the bile, cringing at the burn. She sits up slowly, looking down at the IV in her arm. She closes the tube and then pulls it from her arm. She's in her personal tent. Someone must have brought her here after she passed out.

Needles to say, this is the best she's felt in a while. She stands up slowly and rubs her face, trying to shove away the sleep. She stand there in the middle of her small tent, looking around, not really knowing what to do. That was such a vivid dream. Seeing Master Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage, so much like Naruto, in a place that means a lot more to her now that she thinks about it, then it did originally. Training ground 7 was a secret sanctuary to her. It's the most prominent place where she could feel Sasuke's presence.

She would go there, sometimes, in the time that Sasuke and Naruto were both gone. She would just stand there and look around, mentally immersing herself in the memories of good, innocent times. Even there, in the midst of her confusion, Sakura smiles at the thought. Was it strange that some of her really innocent times was after she took her first kill? The thought leaves a bitter-sweet taste into her mouth.

Sakura thinks back to the dream, wondering what had drawn such a thing from her subconscious. Then she looks down her body. She's been stripped down to a tanktop and her underwear. She pulls her shirt up to look at her smooth stomach, tilting her head slightly, wondering if she was crazy in giving any credit to that dream. It just seemed so real.

She lowers her shirt again with the intention of going to get dressed and then returning to work, forgetting that strange dream ever even happened, when something makes her stop. An itch, a feeling that she can't quite decipher. Sakura holds her shirt up again and stares at her stomach, wondering if she can imagine it swollen with a baby and the thought leaves her feeling a little warm and then a little cold. The idea of having children was always an end goal to Sakura. She was going to have kids around her twentieth birthday, be married and spend the rest of her life as a stay at home mom. She never much thought that she would be able to do much with her life other than take care of her kids.

But Sakura's not so sure anymore.

This war has really opened her eyes. People actually need Sakura. And it's not one of those "oh, everyone is needed for the good of the cause" sort of thing, no. People literally go out of their way to find her and have her do something either a; only she can do, or b; she's the only one who can really do it right. People listen to her and give her a title of respect, even thought she is younger than most of them. Or all of them. Ino is even older than her, but only by a few months. But still these people with years of work under their belt still see her, a child, as someone worth respecting. Sakura never thought such a thing was possible.

Would she really be willing to give it up in just five-almost four- short years?

But then this dream... it was so strange, but it left a foreboding feeling in the pit of her stomach, giving her that nauseous feeling again. Sakura touches her stomach right under her navel only to pull back in shock as a seal works it's way across her flesh, it's a glowing bright blue, circling her navel much like Naruto's seal does. But instead of turning into a burned out black color, it starts to fade away back to her flesh color.

Sakura blinks rapidly. That wasn't a dream? She was actually visited by the Fourth Hokage and Master Jiraiya? They are actually sending her off to give birth to the Fourth Hokage? She's being Virgin Sakura having a baby?

The small pink haired girl falls back onto her bed, running her hand up and down her face for a moment before pulling away to look at the unmarred flesh on her stomach. Hesitantly, she reaches out and touches the smooth skin to see the seal appear once more. Proof, Sakura's mind tells her, it's undeniable proof that she wasn't dreaming, that she has to take this entire thing seriously.

New, unwelcome dread washes over her as Sakura pulls her white tank top back down over her stomach and sets off to change into her blue chunin garbs and green flak jacket. She wraps up the bottom of her pants and pulls on her sandals. Sakura circles around the small tent, pulling together her meager belongings into a small pack and filling her kunai pouch, and his shiriken pouch and her back medical pouch. She slips the backpack over her shoulders and walks out of her tent, stopping once to grab her 'ninja' headband before leaving. She quickly locates one of the passing nurses.

"I need you to find Dr. Olsen and let him know that he's in charge of the camp," Sakura says.

The nurse, an Iwa woman, stares at her dumbfounded, like the words make absolutely no sense to her. "Wait, what? Where are you going, Lady Sakura?" her brown eyes flicker down to pack on Sakura's back before her eyes widen and horror is unmistakably written across her face. "When are you going to be back? Is it going to be soon?"

Sakura smiles faintly, not knowing how much to say. "Just let him know. I'm needed somewhere else." It's not really a lie, yet somehow saying it to this young woman made her feel like a jerk.

"Yes, ma'am," the nurse says, still looking horrified.

Sakura pats her shoulder and smiles as reassuring as she can to the worried woman. "You guys will be fine, I'm sure."

The nurse didn't seem like she believed Sakura's words but nodded nonetheless and ran off to do as the pink haired girl asked. Sakura bowed her head and hurried out of the camp, trying hard to ignore the cries of pain from patients and the sounds of frustration from the staff. If anyone stopped her, she might not leave. Each step past people who need her broke her heart a little more.

This goes against everything Sakura has been living for since she asked to be Tsunade's student. And to just walk away from it now... it's the hardest thing Sakura has ever had to do. But once she's out, Sakura focuses her attention on finding the only woman who can have any idea of what is going on with Sakura, the woman who has been more of a motherly figure than her own mother.

It was one thing to have to walk away from people who were very capable of taking care them, but it's even harder to walk past people who were breaths away from death with no one there that could help them. She knew she had to find Tsunade as soon as possible, but some people, for one reason or another, just couldn't be ignored. If they were hurt badly enough where no one in the immediate vacinity couldn't heal or at least help them, and Sakura could heal the wound quickly, she would stop and do just that. It helped to sate the dark feeling settling in her gut a little.

It takes hours to find Tsunade, so long that Sakura began to wonder if it was really smart to be wondering blindly through a battlefield trying to find someone. If she is carrying precious cargo, then the less time she spends in danger, the better. Sakura went to the headquarters, yet sometime while she was out cold, it was destroyed and Shikamaru was now in charge of the forces and Ino was his go between. She couldn't even begin to locate those two for fear it would ultimately drive her in the opposite direction of Lady Tsunade, so she went of blinding, picking a direction and heading in it.

Sakura followed the advice of eye witnesses saying where they last saw the small blond kage and had been hoping from place to place looking. Much more time than Sakura would like had past and she was starting to lose hope of ever finding her wayward master. But alas, right as Sakura is about to give up and become AWOL, she spots the hulking form of the Raikage.

"Lord Raikage!" Sakura calls, running over to the tall man. He turns at the sound of his title and hones in immediately on Sakura's form moving toward him. To say the older man looked worse for ware was an understatement. He looked worn out, annoyed and like he's gone through hell. It's no shock that his signature coat that used to hang loosely over his shoulders is no where to be found.

"What?" He asks, sizing her up with a small huff. "Tsunade's student," he notes.

Sakura stops right in front of him. "Where is Lady Tsunade? Have you seen her? She was last seen with you."

Ay grunts and nods beyond the giant boulder next to them. Sakura can see Mei Tarumi, the Mizukage, and Onoki, the Tsuchikage and even Gaara, the Kazekage, all sitting around nursing their wounds and just past them is her blond haired Hokage, hands on her hips, looking up at a very familiar black haired man. Sakura's eyes nearly bulge out of her head at the sight of Orochimaru. It's then that she wonders if she's more surprised at his presences or her master's lack of... well eliminating his presence.

"What is he doing here?" Sakura asks softly, shaking her head at the snake sannin.

"Who knows?" Ay grunts, giving the pair a hard look. "Snake bastard saved our lives. Or, more specifically, Tsunade's. He was able to hear her wound for her, I guess."

Sakura looks over at him sharply. Heal Tsunade? Orochimaru? Were they talking about the same man? "What happened? How was Lady Tsunade hurt?"

Ay grunts again, patting the huge rock next to them like that was suppose to explain everything. At Sakura's confused look he gestures toward it. "The damn thing fell on her," he says, like it was the most obvious conclusion to come from his vague gestures. "It pinned her legs and she wouldn't have been able to get out otherwise and her legs would've been useless."

"But Orochimaru saved her," Sakura says softly, looking over at the two ex-teammates. But how was that even possible? Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, hadn't he? And if the snake sannin was here, did that mean that Sasuke was too? Sakura has to stop herself from doing a three-sixty trying to locate the long time missing Uchiha. Her eyes hone in on Tsunade as a new sort of heaviness weighs on her chest.

This could be what brings Sasuke back home. If he's here, that means he might be helping the Allied Forces out. There is a good chance he would come home after this war ended. Sakura can hear the sounds of the Forces still battling off the Juubi. If they manage to defeat it and stop this war, then everyone will be able to go home.

Except for Sakura.

The young pink haired girl looks over at her master, wanting nothing more than to throw herself into the woman arms and cry all of her shortcomings, but she can't. All she can do is stand there and stare at her Hokage and try and find the words that may make or break their relationship. It never occurred to Sakura, but what if Tsunade said no? And Sakura had to leave anyway? That would make the pink haired girl a missing nin and the thought left her feeling cold and dead inside. Sakura would never want that. Sure, Konoha has it's faults but Sakura never thought she would ever leave it. She didn't even know if she would be able to even knowing she'd be back. But, to leave with the thought of never returning...

Sakura didn't know how people could do it.

Everything that Sakura even gave a bit of a damn about was there. Her friends and family, her job, her home.

"Sakura?"

The pink haired girl looks up to see Tsunade and Orochimaru staring over at her. Sakura turns and bows respectfully to the Raikage before heading over to her master and her master's ex-teammate. She eyes the black haired man wearily, but doesn't comment. She bows slightly to her master.

"My lady," Sakura says softly. "I need to speak to you about something important."

Tsunade tilts her head slightly. "Is now really the time, Sakura? In case you hadn't noticed, we are in the middle of a war. Can it wait?"

Sakura feels the shame wash across her face. Yet another reminder of just what she is doing. She is leaving the people who desperately need her help to follow so crazy ass dream that she's not a hundred percent sure she understands. It was so vague; something's coming, we need your help, great evil, there really was no definite anything! All that Sakura left there knowing for certain was that whatever is happening, it somehow involves the Fourth.

Tsunade sees the look flitter across her student's face and takes a step toward the girl, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "Sakura, what is the matter?"

Sakura's eyes fill up with tears and she quickly wipes them away. She tries to collect herself but Tsunade's looking at her with worried brown eyes and that is the last way she wants her sensei to look. The last thing she needs is for the older woman to be thinking of her when she has much more important things to be worrying about.

"I have to go," Sakura says, her voice cracking. "I can't stay."

Tsunade's eyebrows pull together and she looks confused. "What? Why? Sakura, has something happened?"

The young girl opens her mouth, trying to find the words but they won't come, there's nothing there. She has no idea how to say it. All she can do is stare into the eyes of the woman who has been taking care of her the past few years. Finally, she zips down her flak jacket and pulls up her long sleeve regulation shirt and tank top to reveal her stomach.

Tsunade looks horrified as Sakura reaches out and touches the flesh above her belly button and the seal appears. Tsunade leans in closer, her eyes narrowing before pulling back. "What is that?" She asks softly.

Sakura blinks away the burning in her eyes. "The Fourth Hokage gave it to me." Surprise flickered across Tsunade's face, Sakura expected that, but not as much as Sakura figured warranted from such words. The short blond looks over at Orochimaru with a strange expression. Sakura drops her shirt, hiding her exposed stomach. She was so focused on Tsunade, she forgot about the snake sannin.

"Why..." Sakura hesitates, not sure what to say in front of the older man and the other kage, with them being so close. Sakura trains her eyes on her master. "Why do you not seem so surprised?"

Tsunade sighs, running a hand through her messy blond hair. "Orochimaru managed to bring the Fourth's soul from the shinnigami's stomach. Same with the First and Second and Sarutobi-sensei." Sakura stares back at them with eyes wide in disbelief. The First through Fourth Hokage's are alive?

"And they're here?" Sakura asks quietly.

Tsunade nods. "Yeah. Well, not here," she gestures around the space near her. "They are off helping fighting the Juubi. Now, why did the Fourth put this seal on you? Why do you need to leave?"

Sakura shakes her head, not sure what to say. "I... I'm not really sure..." she says, not really lying. She's very confused. If the Fourth is alive now, why does he need her? "All he told me was that I have to leave. I can't stay here or..."

Tsunade raises an eyebrow for a moment before brown eyes narrow dangerously. "Or what? Sakura," she snaps, making her student jump and look utterly guilty, "or what? Answer!"

Sakura flinches, pulling at her regulation pants, trying to find something to say that won't earn her the wrath of the fiery blond. Sadly, nothing comes to her mind and she cringes, avoiding steadily darkening eyes. "I... I'm sorry, Master. I... I can't... go..." she can't say it. If she says it, then it will become real. She can't go home. She is abandoning all of her precious people for who-knows-how-long when they need her the most.

"Home?" Tsunade snarls making Sakura shrink more under her glare. "Where in the hell are you going to go, Sakura? There is no where else out there for you to go! Why would you forsaken the safety of the Leaf for..." She waves her hands around wildly, "I don't even know what this is. Sakura, please tell me you are feverish and I just need to walk your ass back to the medical tents."

Sakura could only look back sadly, having no words for the motherly figure in her life. Tsunade huffs loudly and marches away, stopping about ten feet away, staring off into the distance, trying to reign in her anger. Sakura looks over hesitantly to the other sannin. Only Tsunade was suppose to know and she wasn't sure how lenient she was suppose to be on this, but somehow, asking the older man to leave didn't seem like it was going to have a pleasant ending. So instead, she asks, quietly, "Is Master Jiraiya out there too?"

Orochimaru's oblong irises fly over to her and stare at her with an unreadable look in them. "No, why?"

Sakura shakes her head, wondering if she was just digging her own grave deeper by bringing the black haired man into her problem. Taking the space as a chance to at least try to be secretive about this, Sakura walks past the older man and over to her master, giving her a few moments to settle down her breathing before reaching out and touching her sensei's shoulder.

"Master, I'm sorry. Something is coming... he said that it will come after this war is over. He said that..." Sakura stops for a second, finding it easier to speak to the older woman when said woman isn't facing her. That way Sakura can't see the disappointment painted on her face. "The Fourth is going to be reborn into this word. I guess that means whatever Orochimaru did won't last forever. He needs me to help him. Train him, I guess. He needs to be here to fight what is coming."

Tsunade turns around to give Sakura a hard look. "That seal... it somehow binds him to you, right?" Sakura nods. "And you are going to train him? Why? What in the world could you teach him?" Tsunade probably didn't intend for the words to sound as cruel as they did, but Sakura flinched at them anyway. Tsunade looks about to apologize before deciding that she's suppose to be mad at her pink haired student and just snaps her jaw shut and continues with the hard look.

"Everything..." Sakura says softly, scooting a little closer. "I'm not... I'm not allowed to let anyone know that he'll be alive. That he'll be reborn..." Sakura says, hoping the older woman would understand the underlying meaning without Sakura having to say it.

Clearly Tsunade didn't care for the underlying meaning when she asked, "Why would it matter if anyone knew he was coming back to life?" She paused for a moment than shook her head. "Kami, I never thought I'd ever say that in my entire life."

Sakura rubs up and down her arms uncomfortably. "I don't know, my lady. They didn't exactly have a lot of time to tell me much. All I know is that I'm the only one that can bring the Fourth back into the world and only you are suppose to know about it. I have to raise him in secret from people who would know who he was." Sakura didn't realize she made a mistake until Tsunade looked at her sharply.

"They? Who's they? I thought only the Fourth visited you."

Sakura freezes. "He did." Tsunade's eyes narrow and Sakura knew she was going to keep insisting until the pinkette gave in so she did. "Master Jiraiya was there too. And before you say anything," she cuts in when the older woman opens her mouth, "no, he's not alive like the Fourth. He's still..." dead, she couldn't say. She knew how badly Jiraiya's death had hurt her master and the same pain flickers across her face again, fresh with the pain.

"Why you, Sakura?" Tsunade asks softly, face lowering.

Sakura shakes her head, feeling tears prickle at her eyes. "I don't know, Master. I really don't. I wish it wasn't. I feel like I'm leaving everyone to fend for themselves but if the Fourth is the only person who can help us if something else is really coming...? I don't know what to do! I don't want to go! I want to be here, helping my friends. I want to help win this war and then go home and celebrate with my friends! I don't want to leave them now and even have them think the worst of me. Am I dead? Am I safe? How would they know? How would I know that they are? I... I don't want to... but it was a mission, my lady, given by the Fourth Hokage and Master Jiraiya. I can't refuse it. I want to, kami do I want to. But I can't!"

Somewhere around the first sentence, Sakura began to cry and Tsunade pulls the pink haired girl tightly against herself. She soothingly runs her hands through Sakura's nasty hair and has the decency not to flinch. It is way too hot out there for people to be hugging and crying but Sakura can't stop. This may be her last chance for a long time to come.

"I don't want to go!" Sakura cries, burying her face into the older woman's shoulder. "Please, tell me that I can't go. Order me to stay."

Tsunade doesn't respond, just holds onto Sakura tightly. The younger girl's head starts hurting from crying, she has to reach a hand in between hers and her sensei's bodies to wipe the snot and tears from her face. Tsunade does something that Sakura didn't expect. She kisses the side of the pink haired girl's head, so softly, said girl was probably not suppose to know it happened, but that only releases the flood gate and Sakura cries harder, holding onto her sensei like she's a lifeline. And she is, Tsunade; right here and right now, will be the last person that Sakura will be able to see that she loves for longer than she'd like to think.

It's not too much longer before the young girl has no more tears. She pulls away from her sensei, wiping her face on her sleeve, clearing her throat and trying to make herself look somewhat presentable when she sees Tsunade's sad brown eyes staring up at her.

"You have to go," Tsunade whispers, like it brings her physical pain. "I don't want you to, but if there is something coming... think of this like a mission. Protect the village from the outside. Jiraiya did that with his spy network. It... won't be much different," she smiles thinly, but it doesn't reach her eyes. Sakura appreciates that she's trying to make this easier, regardless of how much neither want to do it.

Tsunade looks over Sakura's shoulder at the Kage and sannin behind the young medic before sighing. "We are needed out there, Sakura... I have to go. And so do you. Listen to the news of the war. Two months after it is over, return to the village, I will give you stuff to help you. Until then... you are a smart girl and you have your skills. Do what you can to survive until then, okay?"

Sakura nods. "Yes ma'am," she croaks, throat raw from crying.

Tsunade nods, face hardening. "Good luck, Sakura. Remember, two months. If I don't hear or see you, I will be sending trackers."

The laugh is ripped from Sakura before she can stop it. It sounds painful but also relieved. "Yes ma'am." After a moment of hesitation, Sakura removes her headband and offers it to Lady Tsunade, her hands shaking slightly. The blond shakes her head, closing her fingers over them before smiling tenderly to the young girl. If Sakura had any more water in her body, she would have cried again, but all she could muster was pulling the headband to her chest and dipping her head slightly in understanding. Tsunade nods once, more to herself than to Sakura, and then pulls the younger girl into a tight hug for a moment before pulling back and slipping past her.

"Are we ready to go?" she asks the other Kage and the sannin. All bobbing their heads up and down. Most figuring that it wasn't their business to say anything but it didn't stop their curious looks sent between the master and student. As they prepared to get ready to leave, Gaara makes his way over to Sakura.

"Lord Kazekage," Sakura says softly, bowing her head slightly.

He reaches out and places a hand on her shoulder and looks down into her green eyes with his, meaningfully. He was never one for many words. He just nods to her slowly and whispers, "Good luck in whatever it is that you are doing," before turning and making his way back over to the other Kage. Sakura would go so far as say that the two of them were friends. Not the type of friends that hung out, like her and Ino or her and Naruto, but the type of friend where there can be those friendly times when they are put together and work with each other with an understanding that is beyond that of mere acquaintances.

Sakura turns away, unable to watch her master leave. She walks in the opposite direction, toward the Leaf. She won't be able to travel with the meager belongings she has. She left everything but what was essential to this war at home.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Sakura says, not turning to look at the sannin. She hears his sandals scuff across the ground as he turns to her. "Is Sasuke out there... helping people? Us, I mean."

"Mm," Orochimaru hums. Sakura lowers her head, feeling a fresh wave of sadness and desperation wash over her. But she can't stop. She has to go. So she steels herself. She will be strong until she can return home. She will spread the will of fire and raise Minato's soul with love and loyalty for the Hidden Leaf. So, with a heavy heart and clutching the headband in her fist over her heart with whitening knuckles, Sakura turns her back on her friends and loved ones and heads away from the battlefield.

Sakura stops as soon as the sounds of battle are so faint, she can barely hear them. She doesn't look back, though, she's not strong enough to be sure she wouldn't just go back and join them. She rolls her shoulders back and stares ahead with determined, but sad green eyes. "I will be back, one day. I will make it up to everyone. Just stay safe everyone. I will see you soon. I promise."

And with that, she tenses her legs and races away. Over and over in her head she prays for each and every one of her friends' safe return and eventual forgiveness.


	3. Only two things between them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry about the wait! Thank you all for your kind words! They really encourage me to keep going as quickly as I am. I am sorry for the wait, I just moved and we finally got our hands on some internet. So, this chapter is a little longer than the others. Note, that I have begun to deviate from the actual story now, so the level of accuracy to main story line is going to become more prominent. Thank you all so much for all of your support thus far! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None, maybe just language.
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 6,489

Sakura easily sneaks into the village and into her own home. She waited til her family was out. Mother went to the store and her father went off to do whatever it is that he does at times like this. Sakura was never all that sure what he did in his free time. Just wandered, she guessed, but never knew for sure. She slipped in through her window and looked around her room. It was exactly as she left it. Her mother came in to clean it, but that was it.

Sakura strips out of her regulation gear and instead grabs her shinobi gear of choice. Her pink zip up shirt and tight black pants with her beige skirt over it. She transfers her shinobi pouches to her person and then moves around the room, gathering up travel bags. She fills it up with shinobi weapons, medicines, medical books she was in the middle of reading, extra pairs of clothes and all the money she's accumulated over the years through missions, working at the hospital and her own allowance from her parents.

Sakura packs all of her stuff into storage scrolls so she can take the max amount of stuff without having to deal with the ungodly weight. The last thing Sakura takes from her room is the picture of the original Team 7 and then the new one, taken a few weeks ago.

Naruto and Sakura are back to back, grinning at the camera in the center of the photo. Sai is on the side, smiling his real soft, unsure smile off to the side a bit. Tenzo was smiles at the camera next to Kakashi who had that closed eye, high eyebrow smile he usually has on his face. Tenzo has his elbow perched onto Kakashi's shoulder off to the other side. They were all happy. Yes, Team 7 was incomplete without Sasuke there, but this pictures holds a lot of meaning to Sakura too.

And then, she stops and grabs the picture of her and her parents, eight years old getting read to enter the academy. She hadn't met Ino yet so she hadn't helped Sakura begin to gain her courage. So she looked so tiny between her prim and proper mom and her grinning father. Her hair was all in her face and her head was tipped down. But it was the only picture of her parents that she could take with her. So that went into her bag too.

The young medic makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen with one more scroll. She packs in food that won't spoil, canned goods. Some basic recipes of her mother's. She grabs out a pen and pad and leaves a note to her parents, letting them know that she was here and that she won't be able to return for a long time but that she will be back one day, many years from now. She signed it and left. If she stayed any longer, she might not be able to gain the courage to leave.

Sakura steels herself, stopping in the doorway to her room one more time before bowing her head and leaving threw her bedroom window, much like how she entered, locking it behind her. Then she made quick work of leaving the village. After a long moment of standing a hundred yards outside the village gates, Sakura finally spun around in a circle on her heel and pointed her finger. Where she was pointing when she stopped ended up being where she headed.

It wasn't the most professional way to go, but it worked. Sakura had no clear cut place she was suppose to go to. It's just wander around for nine months, have a baby, raise it for thirteen years, come back home. Or at least, she hopes it will be. What if she has to wait until he's sixteen? Or twenty? To think, by the time the baby is born, Sakura will be sixteen. From them on, when the Fourth's soul is thirteen, Sakura will be twenty-nine. When he's sixteen, she will be thirty-two and when he's twenty, she'll be thirty-six. She really will be the forty year old virgin.

The thought leaves her cold. She's be at least thirty when she returns to the Leaf. That seems so far away from now. Sakura really will be giving up so much of her life to this. It had all better be worth it in the end or Sakura is going to be so pissed. Not that Sakura is some kind of sex fiend or anything like that, it's just such a long time to be away from the people she knows and loves and it really cuts into her time raising a family.

Sakura halts in her walking and looks around. She in the forest that surrounds the Leaf still, she hasn't made it all that far, but this random direction stuff is probably a really bad idea. Sakura has to think this through logically. If she's going to raise the Fourth's soul, she's going to have to do it somewhere where no one has any idea who he or she is.

The pink haired girl isn't one to toot her own horn, but she is pretty well known. A good portion of people know her name, but most know her as Tsunade's apprentice. She has to get away from that. If Sakura knows Naruto, and she does, after this war is over he's not going to waste any time sniffing out her trail. She has to go somewhere that people won't recognize her. She has to keep her Leaf Village affiliation a secret in case people think that she went AWOL. Which she kind of is, but the last thing she wants is to be treated like that.

Naruto will come searching in the places he knows she would frequent.

Unless Lady Tsunade tells them that she was KIA. The thought causes Sakura's entire body to run cold. She looks around, suddenly anxious. It's one thing to be away and everyone to wonder, it's selfish of her to wish to be in their thoughts, but it's another thing to be considered dead. They will bury her and then forget her. They'll grieve and then move on. How in the world would she be able to go home with them thinking she's dead. Sure, Lady Tsunade will make up some story, but that would mean she would be going back and taking a dead girl's place and Sakura's not sure she would be able to handle that. This journey will change her, she knows it will. She won't be the same afterward.

Sakura shakes the thoughts away. There is nothing she can do about it now. She will just have to play it all by ear and hope that she can make it through this endeavor.

The pink haired girl looks up at the sky to depict what direction she is facing. South-east. She turns and heads west. To this direction, Sakura can easily slip between the Land of Rock and the Land of Wind territories through the small minor countries in-between. The first one she will have to worry about, the Land of Gysers has a hidden village, Tanigakure no sato. It's an ally of Iwa. Most of their shinobi will be off assisting their allies in the war, but that means that the boarders will either be slightly more lax or that much harder to tread.

The journey is a long and tedious one, Sakura doesn't dare run for fear of getting far away fast only to have to return, per Tsunade's orders. So she walks along small side roads, stopping in a no name village to pick up a map of the Land of Fire and all it's small routes, villages and shinobi bases. Sakura follows groups of traveling merchants and listens to the news of the war. Sakura is both astounded and confused by it all.

Madara Uchiha has returned from the dead. Hokage of old have been seen on the battlefield; friend or foe? The Nine Tails has been released. All nine great demons spotted on the battlefield. False Madara killed in battle. False Madara not killed in battle. The Nine Tails host is dead. The Nine Tails host is alive. Sasuke Uchiha has been spotted aiding in the offensive. A dead goddess has returned to life. False Madara is dead again, for real this time. And then communication cut out. Nothing entered or escaped the battlefield.

Sakura can't make heads or tails of it. No one really knows for certain what exactly is going on right now it's just things filtering out through the whispers of people providing supplies and provisions for the war.

After three long, agonizing weeks lolly-gagging around in the villages near the boarder of the Land of Fire, Sakura finally get's word.

The war is officially declared over.

After that, Sakura counted down the days anxiously. Her first goodbye to home was easy, she'd done it dozens of times, because she knew she was going to come back again after the war was over. Now it's over and she's returning, but only for a short while before having to leave again. This one is going to be the hard one. She's going be away from Konoha for so long.

The night before her return day, Sakura is camped out a few miles from the Leaf. She's timed it all, because she's that bored, and if she's correct she'll be in the Leaf at noon tomorrow. Two months after the end of the war. There will probably still be a lot of people. Sakura got word that the Leaf was hosting the other nations in celebrations for their victory. The thought brings a rueful smile to her lips. That could have been her. She could of been there with friends and family, celebrating the victory that they all worked so hard to accomplish.

But no. She's outside the Leaf. Outside the celebration. Outside that life.

After months of feeling sorry for herself, Sakura has grown tired of it. She'd like to believe she will be able to march out of the Leaf tomorrow with her head held high and believing whole-heartedly that this is something that she will be able to take on. Unfortunately, going back home may just crack that resolve into a million pieces and Lady Tsunade might have to physically punt Sakura out of the village just to get her to leave, and even then she'll have to chase her away so the pinkette doesn't try and slink back in.

Sakura looks up at the dark sky, there's no moon tonight. Her only source of light is the stars and the small fire she has made in front of her. Sakura lifts up her shirt and looks down at her smooth stomach. She lays her hand over it. There is no prominent baby bump yet, but she can feel the firmness forming under the skin, slowly. She's just starting to show, but very slightly. But even then, Sakura can't risk traveling around heavily pregnant. She needs to find a suitable place to have the Fourth's soul be born and then raise it in secret.

Sakura puts her hand over her stomach and sends a bit of chakra into it. The seal appears and glows in the darkness. So much these last few months, Sakura has spent staring at the seal. She could probably replicate the seal in the dirt a hundred times over, she knows it so well. Now, would the seal she makes be able to do anything? No, in fact she's more likely to blow her fucking arm off trying then anything else. But still, that got Sakura thinking.

She has no knowledge in seals whatsoever. She doesn't even know what she's suppose to teach the Fourth's soul. Barely anyone knew anything about him. Even now, Sakura doesn't even know his real name. He was just the Fourth Hokage. Sakura hoped that whatever Tsunade had for her would be something she could use to raise the Fourth's soul.

The young medical shinobi is too keyed up to get any more than a few hours of sleep, but it's enough for her to make it to the Leaf by noon the next day. She pulls her hood up to cover her signature pink hair. The city is bustling with people from all nations. The celebration is still in full swing, even months after the war. Sakura has to wonder if it has something to do with Sakura slipping in and out unnoticed. She quickly conceals her chakra and slips into the village among the other shinobi also making their way in.

It's no surprise, in Sakura's opinion, that people would still be filtering in, it was a long walk back plus the divisions were all broken up and pretty far away from one another. Of course it would take a while for the last of the people to pack up their base camps and make their way back here. Sakura's just surprised that the village is able to maintain this large of an influx of people. There is tents galore outside the perimeter of the village filled to the brim with visitors.

She works her way through the village, straight for the Hokage tower. The less time she spends here with all these celebrating, happy people, the better. She's a little bitter at being unable to celebrate with them. She keeps her head down and sneaks through the village to the tower, feeling like an outsider. Only a few weeks away and Sakura already feels herself not belonging. It settles heavily in her swelling gut.

Sakura walks through the familiar halls of the tower, stopping outside of the Hokage's office. The ANBU don't look at her, as far as she can tell, but she knows that they are analyzing her, assessing her threat to their leader. Sakura could tell them that the only chance she would hurt Tsunade was if she squeezed her too tightly when she hugged her Master.

Sakura knocks on the door politely and waits. A moment later she is called to enter the room. She steps in, closing the door behind her and looks around the room. Tsunade along with the other Kage sit around the room, comfortably, as if they were all old friends.

Hesitantly, Sakura reaches up and pulls her hood down, stepping further into the room. She bow respectfully to all of the Kage. "Lord Tsuchikage, Lady Mizukage, Lord Raikage, Lord Kazekage, my Lady Hokage."

"Welcome back, Sakura," Tsunade says, standing up and walking around her desk to the pink haired girl, pulling her into her motherly arms. Sakura hugs her back hard, not wanting to let ago. But she must, at least she's relieved in seeing that her master is happy and healthy. All of the other kage look a little beaten up but nothing that they won't eventually heal from.

"I'm here, as promised," Sakura says, as Tsunade returns to her chair behind her desk. She looks around at the other kage and nods her head respectfully once more. "Is... everything okay now?"

Tsunade nods slowly, a sad look in her eyes. "Everything is okay. For now, at least." She gives Sakura a meaningful look.

Sakura returns the look with a solemn one of her own. "That's good," she says, feeling a need to fill the silence for just a moment. "You wanted to give me something?"

"Yes," Tsunade says, digging around in her desk before pulling out a file and laying it on the smooth wood. This is probably one of the few times Sakura has ever seen Tsunade's desk look so empty. Perhaps for the sake of her guests, Lady Hokage hid the mountain of paperwork that Sakura assumed would be awaiting the blond's return.

Sakura hesitates a moment before stepping closer to the desk. Each step feels like she's walking down a runway, naked, and the room is filled with thousands of people seeing right through her. For some reason, Sakura feels so exposed and she doesn't know why. She stops in front of Tsunade's desk and picks up the file and opening it up.

Sakura's eyebrows shoot up at the sight of the Fourth staring back at her. His face is stoic, with his eyebrows pulled together a bit but without an actual aggressive look. He doesn't have a headband on and his hair looks long and messy, his face framed by the hair giving it a narrower appearance. He appears to be wearing a white t-shirt with another red shirt over it to top it off with a blue, high collar long sleeve jacket. He appears to be indoors with some kind of purple curtain behind him.

Sakura hadn't really noticed before, but she does now. The Fourth Hokage was really, really handsome. And so young.

The pink haired girl's eyes flicker over to the basic information.

Name: Minato Namikaze

Age: 27

Family background: Orphaned (no known living relatives)

Shinobi alias: Yellow Flash

Rank: Fourth Hokage (Yondaime)

Status: Deceased (October 10th)

Graduation age: 10

Sensei: Jiraiya

Teammates: Shibi Aburame and Choza Akimichi

Marital status: Married (subject unknown)

A lot of his file as been black markered out. As Sakura expected from the Hokage's file. A lot had to be blacked out for his safety. And for the safety of his kids. Naruto, that's why Sakura mistook him for her friend. Naruto is the only child of the Fourth Hokage.

Minato Namikaze is his name. The Fourth Hokage's real name. And he was taught by Master Jiraiya, which explains why they both appeared in her dream together... kinda, and Shino and Choji's dad's were his teammates. Sakura didn't know that. She had to wonder if the two boys knew.

Flipping through the file it is clear that a lot of information was recently added to the file, a list of known jutsu, some of which has the formulas with them, IQ levels as he aged and stuff along those lines. All the information that Sakura would need in raising his spirit once more. Tsunade must have pulled his original file and added to it in order to help Sakura.

Sakura closes the file, bowing her head to her Kage. "Thank you so much for this, my lady. I will put it to good use."

"You'd better," Tsunade says and Sakura can almost hear and you will ensure it doesn't leave your possession. Sakura nods slowly, straightening up.

"Congratulations on the victory," Sakura says, looking over at the other Kage.

Mei Tarumi is the only one to verbally respond beyond a single nod, "Thank you, Lady Sakura."

Sakura blushes at the title, especially being called it by someone like the Mizukage, it's extremely flattering. She bows respectfully to them before turning back to Tsunade. "Is Naruto and the others okay?"

Tsunade's eyes lower a bit. "There were casualties of war, Sakura."

Sakura's heart picks up in her chest and her horror is written across her face. Her hands start to tremble and she has to clench them tightly to her chest to try and stop them. "Who..?" In her mind's eye she can see Naruto, beaten and bloody. And it leaves her feeling cold. Naruto couldn't die. He was like this constant presences in Sakura's life. A bright light that forces out all the darkness in her life.

He couldn't be dead. He couldn't. This was Naruto. Her best friend.

"Neji Hyuga was killed in action," Tsunade says solemnly. Sakura's heart pounds loudly in her ears. She squeezes her hands together so tightly that they hurt. She closes her eyes a moment while the rush of sadness and pain washes over her. In her mind's eye she can see the white eyed boy, staring back. It's like a collage of all the times Sakura has seen Neji, from when they first met in the Chunin exams, to his battle with Naruto and then to how they had managed to become friends after all was said and done.

After he had gotten over his rage and anger at Hinata, Nejis had managed to simmer down and relax. He turned out to be pleasent to be around. Sakura really liked him, he was one of her friends. And for him to now be gone forever... Sakura doesn't know what to think about it. It was one thing with Asuma-sensei. He was older, more expirienced. His death was horrible, but Sakura wasn't nearly as close to the older man as she was with Neji.

She went on missions with Neji, all the time. She would stop and talk with him on the streets when she saw him. She accepted all her friends as her immediate patients and if they ever needed any sort of medical help they were to go to her. He wasn't just some boy that was part of the Lee's team. He was her friend and now he was gone. Neji had once told her, one night while the bunch of them were out eating at one of Choji's family resturants, that he was still trying to make up for how he treated Hinata, and Lee, and even Naruto. Really everyone. He felt bad for the way he acted and all he wanted was to prove to them that he wasn't like that anymore. That he was going to be a good and loyal friend.

And Sakura whole-heartedly believed it and told him so. That was probably the first and only time that Sakura had seen the Hyuga boy's gentle and kind smile. It was lovely and soft and something that she will never have the chance to see again.

Sakura has lost people before, but for some reason, this leaves the coldest and the most empty she has ever felt. Not even the first death under her careful yet inexperienced hand had left her feeling this way.

She can feel the tears well up in her eyes but she quickly blinks them away, straightening her back and pushing back her shoulders. "I... see..." she closes her eyes for a moment, trying to steady her voice. "Thank you for telling me, my lady."

Tsunade looks at her with knowing, but sad eyes. "Sakura..."

"I should go. I have orders I must follow," she smiles faintly, tightly. It doesn't reach her eyes.

"You can stay," Tsunade says softly. "We can figure this all out. You don't have to go." Perhaps it was because Tsunade didn't care what the other kage might have thought, or maybe the other Kage could understand a bit of what Tsunade must be going through, although Sakura really hoped not because that might mean that she told them about what is going to happen, because she didn't seem to mind them being there. She doesn't seem to care that they are hearing something between the master and student. But Tsunade wouldn't betray her like that. She wouldn't break Sakura's trust like that.

"I have to," Sakura says. "If I stay, I won't ever leave again, and I have a mission to uphold."

Tsunade nods solemnly. Sakura can see in her wise brown eyes that she wants to deny Sakura the opportunity to go. Do exactly as Sakura wants and tell her not to go, but Tsunade is a professional. She knows that she must let Sakura go, and Sakura knows that she must go too.

"If you ever need anything, Sakura," Tsunade says firmly, "I want you to come home. We can figure it all out. Do you understand me?"

Sakura nods, smiling tenderly to her abrasive but sweet master. "Yes, ma'am."

Sakura turns to leave, wanting nothing more than to throw herself into her sensei's arms once more but knowing that may crack both of their paper thin resolves, she steels herself to the desire, when Mei calls out, "Won't you at least stay for the festivities?"

The pink haired girl pauses, at that moment, that was all Sakura wanted. She wanted to celebrate with the friends she still has, mourn with them over the loss of Neji and celebrate his life. But just like with Tsunade, if she allows herself that simple pleasure, she may not be able to turn away.

"No," Sakura says, shaking her head. "It's best that I just go. Thank you though, Lady Mei. Lord Onoki, Lord Ay, Lord Gaara, Lady Tsunade, farewell." Sakura bows her head again. "I will keep my promise, Master. We will see each other again."

Tsunade nods, posture stiff. "We will." The definite note in her voice brings a bit of comfort to Sakura. They will see one another again. Sakura takes a moment to look around the room that she has spent a good portion of the last three years in and says her silent goodbye to her student life here, and embrace her master life out in the real world. Now it is Sakura's turn to travel around and help out those in need. Her time to train those in the art of healing and care. And one day, she will return home and hopefully have something she can teach her master.

"Goodbye," Sakura says, pulling her hood up.

"Not goodbye," Gaara says, staring at her with his light green eyes, sitting politely by the Raikage. It's like she's made of glass and he can see right through her. "It is farewell, Sakura. Until the next time we see each other. Good luck."

"Farewell then, Lord Kazekage, my lords and ladies," Sakura looks at the rest of them. "Farewell."

Then she turns and leaves, quietly shutting the door behind her. Sakura takes a moment to catch her breath, leaning against the door to support her, before pushing off and walking down the halls and out the building for the last time in a long time.

Sakura squeezes into the bustling crowd, making her way through the cramped streets. She moves up onto her tip toes and glances toward the main gate. With the flow of people moving in, there is no way that she'll be able to mosey her way out through that door. Although, perhaps that's not a bad thing. It gives her the reason to go through the town to exit the opposite way. It saves her the time of skirting around the village anyway.

Sinking into the flow of traffic, Sakura drags her heels as she makes her way through the village, watching all the people laughing and joking and having fun. People of all the five great nations talking to one another as if they've been friends forever. People from everywhere can easily slip into any conversation with anyone regardless of the majority of people's origin that are already there. Like a group of three Leaf shinobi and a single Sand shinobi welcome a Cloud village shinobi to join without even batting an eyelash at it.

Sakura feels a smile working it's way across her face. She looks around at all the people feeling pride bloom in her chest. This was such a wonderful and remarkable sight and Sakura was so glade that she took the time to see it. This almost makes leaving worth it. If by her leaving can help this friendship between them sustain, then Sakura would do it in a heart beat.

"Shut up, Naruto, you are so annoying!"

Sakura perks up at her best friend's name. Her head swivels around trying to locate her friend. She stops when she sees him, bright blond hair and all, so much like his father, through the open window of one of the many Akimichi restaurants. It looked like everyone was there, excluding the jounin senseis and Neji. But in his place, is Killer Bee. The Eight Tails jinchuriki. He seems to be able to mold in with Sakura's friends easily.

"Sorry, Shikamaru," Naruto says, laughing. "I just want to know. Has anyone seen Sakura?"

That breaks a little piece off of Sakura's soul. Of course her best friend would be wondering where she is. He was Naruto! Never quick to the draw but forever loyal. It's one of the many things that Sakura loved about the blond haired boy and something she hopes she's able to instill into the Fourth's spirit.

"I already told you," Ino says, tucking a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear, "Sakura was still part of the medical unit. She has to help the rest of the injured people get to hospitals and stuff. It's not like they can all come running back, they're hurt. It will take a while."

"I know," Naruto whines, "but I miss her."

Sakura closes her eyes, feeling a wave of both love and sadness wash over her. She wanted to walk through those doors and throw her arms around him. Tell him that she was right there. That she missed him too. But she couldn't. Sakura turns away. Her eyes widen at the sight of Sasuke. He's looking just past her, making his into the Akimichi's shop. Sakura ducks her head and sinks into the crowd.

She makes her way around the village until she gets close to the back gate and separates from the crowd and heads toward it. It was strange. The village has never had so many people in it and yet, like all those years ago, there isn't a life on this street. This was the same place where Sasuke said goodbye to Sakura. The same street where he left the village with the intent of never returning.

The pink haired girl slows down in front of the bench. The same bench she slept on the night Sasuke left all those years ago. She reaches out and touches the wood, it's withered and old. A new coat of paint and it will be fine once more.

"Where are you going?"

Sakura has never snapped up straight that fast in her entire life. Her head kinda hurts from the movement. Sakura turns slightly to see Sasuke staring back at her and it is the greatest form of irony that Sakura has ever witnessed. She turns completely to face him for a moment, taking him in.

His hair is longer then before. He's not wearing a hand band, it's tied off his belt, dangling at his waist. His eyes aren't as cold and lifeless anymore. Not like she saw him on the bridge when he told her to kill that red haired girl, Karin. Instead he looks calm, almost at peace and Sakura could have cried again at the thought. Sasuke has finally found his peace. She's not sure how it came to be, but now that it's there, she's happy. Happy for him. Happy for Naruto. The blond is no longer bound by the promise she made him make and the promise that he made himself make.

Naruto was finally free.

Only now, he'll have to worry about Sakura. Which is the last thing that Sakura wants. But she can't bring herself to say goodbye. Not to Naruto. But is it more cruel to just leave him without a word? Just like Sasuke did? Surely Tsunade will trying and explain to him as much as she can but hopefully he will understand.

"I'm leaving for a little while," Sakura says slowly, trying to keep her voice steady.

"When will you be back?" He asks.

Sakura shakes her head. "Not for a long time." Sasuke's dark eyes stare through her much like how Gaara's did. Sakura turns around and starts to walk away, really she tries, but her body won't move.

Sasuke's footsteps toward her are slow and soft. Sakura can barely hear the sound of his sandals scuffing against the ground. He stops about a foot behind her, making Sakura's entire body tingle. She closes her hands into a fist, trying to reign in her emotions. After a long moment, Sakura finally whispers, "Welcome back home, Sasuke-kun."

"Thank you," he says, although he doesn't sound thankful. He sounds as if he's saying it out of necessity rather than actual appreciation. There is a moment of silence between them. Sakura has no idea how to respond to that. Thankfully she doesn't have to, because Sasuke speaks again. "Will you say nothing to Naruto? He's been waiting to see you."

His words cut. Sakura's not sure if he knows that, but they cut deeply. Sakura is painfully aware of what this might do to Naruto but she has to hope that he will somehow be able to understand and let her do this in peace. It's not like she won't come back. She's not like Sasuke in that retrospect. She doesn't even want to leave, she'll be back the next chance she can. But she's not sure what to even say to Sasuke. She doesn't even understand why he's here. This place has history for both of them and it's not good for either of them. Why would he follow her? Clearly he spotted her when she was looking in on her friends, but she can't understand what would make him divert from his path.

Why would he come out to this place with Sakura? What in the world could he want?

"Why are you here?" Sakura asks. She lowers her head, sadly, wishing that their circumstances could have been different. She wishes that she wasn't in this situation. Where she isn't able to celebrate with her friends because she's scared she won't leave them. Where she can't be happy that the young man that she has spent the last three years looking for and even longer pinning for.

But now he's here and he's seeing her, for some reason, and she has to leave.

Sasuke doesn't respond. Sakura's not so sure she expected him to. She manages a few stops away from him before his voice stops her once again, "Do you know?"

Sakura tilts her head slightly toward him, but doesn't turn to face him. "Do I know what, Sasuke-kun?"

"Why I said thank you that day?"

"Sakura, thank you."

The pink haired girl closes her eyes for a moment, remembering that moment so vividly in her mind. Sakura stiffens, turning her face forward again, her chest tightening painfully.

"I don't," she admits. And she doesn't. All this time it has always been a mystery to her. Why Sasuke thanked her before he basically ripped her still beating heart from her chest. She spent so long analyzing his words trying to find the meaning behind them but it's hopeless. She couldn't do it, all she managed to do was drive herself mad trying to wrap her head around it all.

Sasuke is quiet for a long moment, his breaths are slow, calm, even. Even hearing this, Sakura can see in her head, turning around and seeing his neutral face in her mind. Sasuke was always pretty good at hiding his emotions. And he's only managed to improve this skill with age. While Sakura's emotions are worn on her face for everyone to see.

"Do you want to know?" Sasuke asks.

And just like that, Sakura's entire body relaxes. Her shoulders slump forward a bit in defeat and his chin falls to her chest, eyes slipping closed. Sakura can hear her own heart being so loud in her ears. Sakura shakes her head very slowly. "No, Sasuke-kun. I don't think I do." And it's true. Sakura doesn't want to know. Not right now, not when she's about to leave. She doesn't want another reason to hate herself for leave.

After she says it, she walks. One part of her wants to know. Wants to know something that has been eating away at her for years but the other part of her, is ready to say goodbye. Sasuke has to move on with his life and Sakura can't be the one he moves on with. Sasuke has to have a family. He is the last living Uchiha in the world. It's scary enough that he's gone this long without adequate protection, but now that he's old enough, Sasuke needs to focus on having children, getting himself a wife.

There is no way he would be able to wait for Sakura. And there is no reason for him to. Any girl would practically throw herself at him for the chance to bare his children. Sakura is going to be busy for the next few years raising a fatherless child. There is no chance for Sakura to ever be with him. Sasuke has to move on. Even if he had any feelings for Sakura, it wouldn't matter. All it'll probably do is hurt Sakura to know. Sasuke must know this, so why is he trying to tell her? What in the world could he get from it?

Sakura stops a few feet away from Sasuke, turning slightly to stare at him. "Tell Naruto that I'll see him again, will you?" Sasuke doesn't respond, just stares back at her with dark, fathomless eyes. "Goodbye Sasuke-kun, take care of yourself." She doesn't wait for a response. She doesn't have to. She's pretty sure that he wouldn't give her one. There really was nothing else that needed to be said.

It seems like "goodbye" is the only thing that can be said between them. That and...

"Sasuke," Sakura says, dropping the honorific. His chin tilts up slightly noting that. She smiles back at him, sure that her sadness is written across her face, but she's willing to part with a smile. "Thank you."

Sasuke's eyebrows twitch up a moment before settling back into place, and Sakura turns back around and walks, feeling more and more empty with each step. But at the same time, being able to see Sasuke at least once more before leaving, being able to talk to him, even for that little bit, somehow made it all just a little bit better.


	4. The Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Thanks so much for the comments! I love hearing what you guys have to say! Now, I've been up all night and my brain is fried! Good night! Or morning! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None, maybe just language.
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 5,396

Sakura made it far west. She managed to easily slip between the two large elemental nations Earth and Wind. She manages to sneak into the Land of Geysers and avoid Tani shinobi patrols. It took her about four weeks to make it through the Land of Geysers and the nation touching it, Land of Forests, which thankfully didn't have a hidden village, plus the five day run it took to get out of the Land of Fire, almost five weeks away Konoha and she's two whole countries away in the Land of Endless Fields which lives up to it's name.

Sakura is showing now. At least, a lot more than she was earlier. Thankfully her clothes are stretchy, not that she's huge yet, but Sakura is always keeping her eye open for cheep, larger clothes. Sakura looks over the long endless fields of grain. If Sakura remembers correctly; the Land of Endless Fields is one of Suna's biggest trade for grain. Which Sakura can imagine, it's unbelievably hard to live in the Land of Wind which consists of mostly sand. A couple hundred miles along the entire border of the Land of Wind is land ripe for planting, but they hardly produce enough grain to feed a third of the land. So Suna outsources from Konoha and the Land of Endless Fields for their grain.

But as far as Sakura knows, the Land of Endless Fields is a neutral nation. It doesn't even have a Hidden Village. Sakura reaches down and touches her slightly protruding stomach, rubbing it subconsciously. She's at a fork in the road. She looks down the right and it disappears over a hill and on the left it goes down about twenty feet and then curves to follow a river.

"If there is a river here, then a village is near," Sakura murmurs. It's been a long day and it's getting into the evening and she hasn't rested yet that day. Sakura turns left and follows the trail down tot he river and leans down, putting her hand into the water. It's cold and feels nice. A lot of the heat from the Land of Wind is blowing up here the past few days. Sakura is sweating buckets.

Sakura somehow manages to sit. It feels like she has a really small watermelon under her shirt and it makes it hard to bend. Sakura is only four months along and this is how it's already started getting, Sakura can't even begin to imagine how it's going to get worse. The morning hasn't been all that bad, Sakura is easily able to remedy that within her own body with her healing ninjutsu and her feet have swelled up a few times, but that was also easily fixed. The aches forming on Sakura's lower back have started becoming more and more persistent but it's also something that she was able to sooth with her ninjutsu. Sakura did have one really big problem that no amount of medical prowess she may possess could help leviate.

All food smelled disgusting to the pinkette. Her appetite has shifted drastically. She used to really like sweat stuff and now she can't stop wanting meat. Like hardcore any kind of meat. Fish, cow, chicken, if it was alive at one point, Sakura could probably eat it. That probably also included people, but Sakura was never cannibalistic enough to even think of it all too much. The entire thing was strange to Sakura. Was the Fourth a hardcore meat eater? That's the only thing that Sakura could think of. Sure, she would eat it on occasion but never more than once or twice a week. Now it's all she wants.

She still likes sweet stuff and she can still choke down vegetables and greens but other than meat the only other thing she is always craving is nuts. Penuts and walnuts. Really salty peanuts. This pregnancy is going to clog her arteries to the point of a heart attack.

Sakura pulls her regulation shinobi sandals off, having forsaken her knee length boots when her feet started swelling really bad, and stick the sweaty appendages into the water to cool them off. Sakura tugs the plain red and pink flowered yukata that she also forsaken her normal wardrobe for. It was plain and simple and something that didn't attract a lot of attention and she was capable of still arming herself with her weapons beneath the robe.

After a few minutes Sakura had adequately cooled down. With her feet in the cold water, cooled down the blood pumping through her veins and cooled her off. Sadly, all good things must end and so Sakura pulls her feet out of the water and maneuver them into her shoes and, happy that no one was around to see the spectacle of the pregnant teen attempting to stand with some dignity, she manages to steadily climb to her feet after the third try.

Sakura heads back to the road and follows it. After about an hour, the sky is already plashed yellow and red and orange, as the sun sets, Sakura sees a small village ahead. The road breaks off a bit to travel into the village and Sakura is happy to follow it. It's a sleepy little place with probably fifty people in total. Children are being ushered inside and shops are closing. People eye Sakura wearily and curiously as she heads for the small village inn that couldn't provide more than five or six rooms all together.

A robust woman is sitting behind the front desk, reading a book when Sakura walked in. Sakura got all the way up to the desk without the woman even looking up from her book. Sakura looks around awkwardly for a moment before clearing her throat. The woman jumps, looking at Sakura in confusion as if she was wondering if Sakura was merely a figment of her imagination.

After a moment, she blinks rapidly before jumping up dropping the book onto the table, making Sakura tense up instinctively.

"Oh heaves me!" The woman says. "I am so sorry, sweetheart! I completely missed you standing there!" She bops herself on the forehead and laughs kindly, beaming up at Sakura. Sakura was only slightly below average height for a woman, 5'4 but this woman was itty bitty. Probably almost 4 foot or just over it.

"It's fine," Sakura says, smiling lightly. "I can move pretty quietly."

The woman nods, laughing. "You sure can! I didn't hear you coming. What can I do for you, sweetheart? A room, I assume?"

"Yes ma'am," Sakura says.

"Ma'am!" The woman snorts. "Sweet girl, call me Mama! Everyone does!"

Sakura raises an eyebrow. "Mama? Why does everyone call you Mama?"

The woman beams proudly. "Well, I'm the one that everyone comes to if they need anything. You too, sweet girl. Should you need anything, come see me, alright?"

Sakura, a little taken back by the woman's kindness, is unable to sense any hidden malice or ill will within the plump woman-Mama- and just chalks it up to being a kind older woman, probably in her late fifties. Sakura smiles kindly back.

"Very well then, Mama, please take good care of me," Sakura bows a bit respectfully. Mama gushes, reaching across the desk to grab Sakura's hands.

"You are just the cutest little bird I've laid my eyes on in a long time, sweet girl," Mama says, squeezing Sakura's hands. "Oh I must get a look at such a beauty!" She walks around the desk, looking Sakura up and down, shaking her head. "So pretty!"

Sakura blushes, not used to being showered with so much praise. These past couple of weeks had been lonely ones, on the road by herself, but it's good to see that her people skills haven't diminished any.

"My name is Sakura, Mama, it's nice to meet you," Sakura says, feeling happiness bloom in her chest as the older woman beams happily back.

"Sakura! A beautiful name for a beautiful girl!" Mama says then gaps. "Oh, here I am, talking on and on when I'm sure you are very tired. One room, yes?"

Sakura nods. "Thank you, Mama."

"You have the pick of the crop, although, I would suggest the one at the very top of the stairs," Mama says slowly, leaning in close to Sakura like this is some sort of top secret information, "It's got the softest bed and the hottest bath." She laughs. "At least in my opinion."

Saukra smiles. "That'll be fine. I'm not picky about the room."

Mama's eyes flicker down to Sakura's stomach and then back up, she smiles kindly. "I'll give you the better room," she whispers, winking at Sakura before turning around and goes back behind the desk to get the key. "That will be 200 yen, please."

Sakura hands over the yen for the night and follows the woman up the stairs. She opens the door and takes a step back for Sakura to look around the room. It's a little bit larger than Sakura's room at home. It has a queen size bed with a door leading to a bathroom and a desk in the corner. Sakura reaches out and lays a hand on the bed, pressing down a few times, testing it's durability. It would make due. No way would it be as comfortable as her bed back in Konoha, but after sleeping on the ground for the past few weeks... months... it was just better for her back.

Sakura turns to look at Mama, waiting in the doorway. "I like it. Thanks Mama."

Mama nods. "I am so happy! I'm glad you like it!" There is a moment of silence. Mama just stares in at Sakura with wide, kind brown eyes. Sakura stares back, starting to feel slightly uncomfortable.

After a whole minute of Mama saying nothing and just staring, Sakura finally smiles, albeit a bit tense, and asks, "What? Is there something else?"

Mama jumps, shaking her head as if she was lost in thought. "Oh, I'm sorry, sweet girl. Sometimes this old noggin of mine just runs away without me."

"It's fine," Sakura says. And it is. In fact, it's nice to have someone so spacy like Mama. She's nothing like Tsunade. Even the shade of brown is different. She looks like the kind mother who anxiously waits for her kids to visit so that she can smother them with love and affection. Sakura wouldn't be surprised if Tsunade was the type of mother who would heal her hurt children, then smack them upside the head and tell them to stop being jackasses.

At least, that's what she did with Sakura. And for some reason; she misses it.

"How far along are you?" Mama finally asks.

Sakura looks down at her tight yukata, it makes her look a lot more pregnant then she is. "I'm a little over four months. Almost fourteen weeks, I think. How did you know?"

Mama walks into the room and after stopping a moment to look up at Sakura for her little nod of approval, she touches the cloth covering Sakura's slightly swollen belly softly. Mama smiles gently at the small lump before looking up at Sakura with clear, judgment-less eyes. "You've just... got that glow." She didn't go into further explanation. Instead, she asks, "What do you think it'll be?"

Sakura smiles faintly. "A boy. My gut says boy." She snickers internally and then cries a little because that kills the surprise. When she imagined having kids, she always thought that she would be surprised when the baby was born. She would wait until then to know. But it doesn't matter. Not now. Maybe if she can ever have other kids, she'll do it then, but for now, the Fourth has to be reborn, and Sakura is pretty sure that has to be in male form.

Mama makes a pleased noise. "Boys are so nice. And it just warms my heart, a little boy protecting his very, young mommy. It's a cute image!" Normally, Sakura would assume that those words were a jab at her being clearly very young. But the way Mama is gushing, physically fighting herself from rubbing Sakura's belly again, Sakura can't see it as anything but a motherly coo.

Sakura is now sixteen, her birthday just passing. She didn't want to really think about it, and she didn't even really acknowledge the day when it arrived. Sakura had to wonder what her parents did. Her mother was never really one for needless celebration but her father used to wake her up at the crack of dawn and take her out to the Hokage faces, they would climb up the mountain and stare out over the village as the sun rose, bathing it in light. Then once the sun was up, they would watch the village wake up. About an hour later, they would return home to Sakura's favorite breakfast. She would open presents and then be off to do her day.

Sakura did wake at the crack of dawn on her birthday, looked around at the trees surrounding her. Lightly patted the trunk of the tree supporting her, before closing her eyes and willing herself to sleep once more. It was a lot harder then the pink haired girl wanted to admit.

"Thank you..." Sakura murmurs. "Did you ever have any sons, Mama?"

"Oh yes," Mama says. "He was so sweet when he was a baby. He had the sweetest dimple on his left cheek and one his chin it was just..." She shakes her head, making these excited happy noises. Her eyes are far away for a few long moments before she settles down and a sad look passes over her face. "But as he grew older, he changed. He'll always been my baby but... alas, letting him be his own person meant letting him make his choices." Mama sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Regardless of if I like them or not."

Sakura didn't really know what to say to that. "I'm sorry, Mama," is the only thing that seemed appropriate.

Mama shakes her head. "No, it's fine. Well, sweet girl, I should let you get settled in and stop hovering." She waves her hands around before turning to the door and walking over to it. She stops in the doorway, turning around to look at Sakura. "Is there anything that you need, sweetheart? Anything I can get you?"

"No, thank you, Mama," Sakura says. She smiles and watches the older woman close the door. She listens in silence as the inn keeper walks down the stairs. After Sakura can no longer hear the other's foot steps, she pulls the heavy pack from her back and puts it onto the floor next to the bed. Sakura's back burns with the released tension as she falls onto her back, letting the mattress pull her in a bit. Maybe she was wrong, maybe this bed was made by angels just for a pregnant Sakura and her horrible back problems.

But that peace can't last forever, so Sakura pulls herself out of the bed and ruffles around in her bag, pulling out a scroll filled with her clothes and summons some pajamas and undergarments before walking into the bathroom. It's small, with a tub and shower in one and a toilet and sink. Sakura turns on the water and then strips down, waiting for it to get to the perfect level of warm before Sakura steps in and quickly cleans herself. She washes her hair with the complimentary shampoo and lathers her body with the soap before plugging up the drain and filling the tub.

She relaxes in the water, long after she shut the faucet off and closes her eyes. This was a nice, cute little village that Sakura could spend a bit of time in. Perhaps she could even bare the Fourth's soul here. Sakura would definitely prefer having the Fourth (in as not-as-weird-as-she-knows-that-sounds kind of way) in a village rather than on the road or in the forest alone.

After a nice long soak, Sakura finally pulls the plug and lets the water drain before slowly, and carefully, climbing out of the tub. She doesn't have a towel so she just pulls on her clothes and walks into the room. She locks all the doors and windows, placing warning tags along them to pop loudly if they were disrupted in any way. She pulls out the Fourth's file and lays down in the firm bed. It was exactly what she needed.

She had looked over this file at least a million times from the moment she left the village to now. She knew it forward and backward. As creepy as it is, she spent so much time just staring at the different pictures of the Fourth. His inauguration as Hokage. He had on the Hokage hat over his signature jacket. He is holding the hat to his head. The fabric is blowing in the breeze. His eyes are closed and he's grinning broadly.

That one was cute.

But her favorite was the one when he was a little boy in the academy. Eight years old. He was in a white, long sleeved, zip up hoodie with a green strip up the outside of each arm. He's smiling at the camera. A small, closed lipped smile, with huge blue eyes. So much like Naruto's. As the Fourth aged, he grew into his eyes, but at a little boy, they were large and absolutely adorable.

He was going to look like that. She was going to be able to look at that every day. Those cute baby blues that looked so much like her best friends. Those baby blues that were the reason her best friend got those baby blues.

Sakura lowers the picture and stares at the stark white ceiling, missing her best friend deeply. All of her friends really. She wondered what they could be up to. Very little news about the elemental nations can be heard on the road this far west. It will only further decrease until she won't be able to hear anything at all. Thinking that she is only three countries away from her birth nation and still unable to hear anything of it, is weird to Sakura, but ultimately works to her advantage. Now she's not uber far away in case she has to return. Sakura needs to find a place to settle and then write to Tsunade. Let the older, mother figure know she's okay.

Or would that not be smart? People could follow the messengers back and forth. It would just put a target on this village. If Naruto learned that Sakura was communicating with Tsunade and Tsunade was writing back, he would follow the messengers! Well, after he flipped shit and made a bunch of mistakes first, but eventually he would smarten up. Naruto is smart. Everyone likes to joke around that he's dumber then a box of rocks, but he's not. Well, most of the time. But that's not what's important. If anything he's just really slow to the draw.

Sakura closes her eyes for a moment, her body aching from the long trek she made, just today. Perhaps it would do her some good to spend a couple of days relaxing in a village. Especially a small one like this. Perhaps she could get lost in this little, off-the-beaten-path village.

Before much else could cross her mind, Sakura fell asleep.

 

Sakura woke up screaming. She heard her own scream pierce the night air but for the life of her, while staring horrified up at the ceiling, she couldn't remember what was so scary. Her heart is pounding and it feels like the shadows in the room are pulling back, away from her and more into themselves. Sakura pulls herself up into a sitting position and runs her heads up and down her arms, feeling the gooseflesh from where she hikes up her sleeping yukata sleeves.

There is a light knock at the door. "Sakura?" Mama calls softly through the door. "Are you okay, sweet girl?"

"Yes!" Sakura calls out in a raspy voice. She licks her lips and swallows a few times to wet her throat. "It was just a nightmare. I'm fine. Thank you, Mama."

"Okay," Mama says slowly, sounding unsure. "Let me know if you need anything. I'm just downstairs."

"Okay! Night!"

"Night, sweetheart." Mama hesitates at the doorway for a moment, like she's going to call out to Sakura again, Sakura can see her shadow under the door from the hall light, but then decides against it and steps away. Quietly making her way down the creaking steps. Sakura's surprised that she originally missed those in what she would assume was the woman's rapid race to get up there.

Sakura stands up slowly and walks into the bathroom, turning on the sink and splashing water on her face and the back of her sweaty neck. Her heart rate finally slows back to normal as the pink haired girl makes her way back to her bed and crawls inside, tired. She grabs the picture of the young Fourth and holds it to the moonlight. He can't really see it well, but it brings her a bit of comfort. He'll be here soon and then she will be that much closer to returning home.

Sakura puts the picture down next to her and rolls onto her side and pulls her legs up to her chest, as much as she can with her pregnant belly in the way. She closes her eyes and forces the thoughts of whatever her nightmare was from her mind and tries to sleep again. Thankfully, it comes to her rather easily.

 

Once Sakura was ready for the day, she seals her room, so no one can enter without her permission before walking down the stairs in a different green yukata. It's got like a hundred different shades of green and then some black splotches. Sakura didn't really look at it when she bought it. She just needed more clothes for the hot summers.

Mama is behind the desk when Sakura steps onto the main floor. She walks over to the older woman, who's reading the book she was yesterday. It appears as though she's almost done.

"Good morning, Mama," Sakura says.

Mama jumps again, looking up at Sakura with surprised brown eyes. "My goodness, sweet girl, you are just as quiet as a mouse, aren't you!" She says, grinning up at the pink haired girl. She waves the book at the pregnant girl, making a strange, proud noise that Sakura doesn't understand, before settling back into her seat. "So what can I do for you, Sakura?"

"I was actually wondering if I would be able to rent the room for a little while. I'm considering stay here for a bit. I want to look around the village first before making any concrete decisions but I just wanted to know if I would have a place to stay. At least until I'm ready to go," Sakura quickly amends. "So would I be able to?"

"Yes!" Mama says, jumping up. "Yes, please stay! I could use the company! No one stays long and I just love the chance at getting to know you! I'm so excited!" She reaches across the table and grabs Sakura's hands. She beams up at the young woman. "Please! Please stay! I will even give you a discount!"

Sakura shakes her head. "No, I can't do that. What about other customers?"

"There are none!" Mama says proudly. "So no worries! Please. Please. Please please please!"

"Yes, ma'am..." Sakura says slowly, eyes wide. Mama squeals in glee.

"Now go," Mama says, trying to wave the pinkette away. "Go and take a look around our lovely little village. I know you will just love it!"

And she was right. It was so cute. Everyone was so friendly. They welcomed her and offered her free samples of food and let them look at their wares. People were complimenting her on her beautiful and exotic pink hair. The children were playing in the streets. There was only a handful of kids that were older than twelve. The rest were all small and adorable.

There was only one teacher. A seventy year old woman. She's going blind and is probably legally deaf, but the kids love her.

Sakura walks down to the river and sits down, putting her feet in the water. She closes her eyes, leaning back onto her hands and relaxes. She likes having the morning sun beat down on her, listening to the sounds of the village just a few yards off, bustling with life.

"You're new around here."

Sakura opens her eyes and looks to her side to see a boy, about her age with long dark brown hair and dark green eyes. His skin is tan from working out in the sun and he's tall and lean, definitely taller than Sakura, but not as tall as Sasuke. Probably about Naruto's height.

"Yeah. I might be staying in town for a few days," Sakura says.

The boy nods, dipping his bucket of water into the river, filling it up before pulling it out. "I'm Kyouya."

"Sakura."

"Pretty name," Kyouya murmurs, probably not intending for Sakura to have heard.

"Thank you," she says, grinning at him when he looks over at her surprised. His cheeks flush a bit and he looks away quickly.

He clears his throat and walks over to her, putting the bucket down in front of him before kneeling behind it. Sakura rolls her head to look at him. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts before asking, "Will you be leaving before two days from now?"

Sakura shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Why?"

Kyouya looks around, as if worried that they were being watched. Sakura immediately tenses up. Her eyes scan the area around them, reaching out with her senses to see if she can locate any foreign chakra signatures. Nothing.

"Just... leave before then, okay? It'll be safer for a pretty girl like you," Kyouya says.

"Is something coming?" Sakura asks, eyes narrow, in immediate ninja mode.

Kyouya looks hesitant, looking around them again before leaning close and dropping his voice low. "Not something. It a group of people. We get them every couple of days. They bully us, steal some of our livestock and beat up the men that try and fight back. Sometimes they even go after our girls." His eyes narrow dangerously.

Sakura's eyes do the same. "No way."

"Yes," he says. "And they'll be back. A pretty girl like you, they would definitely take you away."

Sakura turns to look forward. She can feel her metaphorical hackles rise up in anger. Her lip curls a little bit in disgust. "They can try."

 

"I forgot! I'm so stupid!" Mama says, tugging at Sakura's sleeve as she walks outside to join the rest of the villagers. "Please, go inside and hide! They would never have known that you were here! Please, Sakura!"

Sakura pauses, turning slowly to face Mama. She puts her hands on the little woman's shoulders. "It's best to do this now while I still can rather than later. I can't just sit by and allow bandits to harm innocent people right in front of me. That's not how I operate." Sakura turns and walks to the front of the group, ignoring Mama's pleads for her to just got inside. All of the people are shifting nervously, looking out at the street that Sakura came in with. Everyone shifting nervously. Children huddled up to their parents. Strong, young men placing themselves between the outside world and the rest of the villagers.

"Sakura?" Kyouya says quizzically. "What are you doing here? Hide!"

"No," Sakura says, "let me take care of this. I think I speak more their language."

"You're crazy," one of the other men says softly. No one else says anything because before the setting sun, comes a group of men, carrying makeshift weapons. Swords, knives, sticks. Sakura watches with a ramrod straight back as they make their way closer. They are all laughing and jeering and throwing out crude, derogatory terms.

Sakura feels her upper lip curl a little bit in disgust. There was probably thirty of them. All rugged and stinky. Sakura could feel her slight worry diminish as she comes to the conclusion that all of them are just morons. They are typical, brainless bandits that pick on the little guy. This is just a nice, quant little village where everyone is so kind and they are being terrorized by a bunch of assholes.

One of them, the biggest one, at least five times Sakura's body weight comes waltzing up at her with a confident gaint, having the nerve to look her up and down with a lecherous eye. "Well aren't you a pretty little thing?" He asks.

Sakura doesn't respond, just stare up at him with an annoyed look on her face.

"Tell me," he says, leaning close. His breath fans across her face and she can smell his teeth rotting out of his head. Sakura cringes. "Does the carpet match the drapes?"

Sakura recoils in disgust. Both at his words and his breath. Never has anyone ever had the audacity to say such a lewd thing to her.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Kyouya says, making to step between Sakura and the big bandit.

Sakura makes to stop him but he is punched hard across the face and sent stumbling back into some of the other men. Sakura snarls.

"I'm going to tell you only once," Sakura growls, stepping up to the giant man. "I will end you if you do not leave this village in peace."

The big man looks at her for a long moment before laughing. His gang of ruffians laugh along side him. Sakura can feel someone tugging at the back of her yukata. She turns her head to see Mama, tears in the older woman's eyes. Genuine fear.

"Please, run," she whispers.

Sakura shakes her head and turns back to the giant man. "I mean it."

"She means it!" One of the bandits repeats, making the others laugh again like hyena. Sakura feels her anger boiling in her blood, but manages to stay still while glaring up at the large man.

"What are you?" the big man says, leaning in close again. He sniffs Sakura's hair and even reaches out to touch it, pinching it between two fingers. It takes all of Sakura's will power not to snap his arm in half. She presses her lips tightly together, trying to reign in her anger. With being pregnant, the last thing she wants to do is to get into a brawl, but she's not just going to let these people keep suffering.

He leans even closer. "A geisha?" he guesses.

Sakura smiles chillingly, raising her hand slowly. Screw diplomacy. Sakura's just going to settle this as she knew her master would have wanted her to. She pulls down her middle finger and hooks it with her thumb. "No," Sakura says dangerously. Her smile cooling off even more. "I'm a shinobi." And then she hits him in the center of the forehead with a chakra infused flick.


	5. Not her reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Oh my gosh! I am a horrible author! I'm sorry! All of your comments made me so happy that I started writing this right away but then I kind of hit a dry spot and am a little stuck. So this chapter isn't nearly as long as I would like and I am so sorry for it! But it is long enough to keep the story going so I hope that you can forgive me! Also, I put a poll up on my page that I desperately need you guys' help with! Answer the question and it might dictate what I can do for the next chapter! Thanks so much again for all your support, it really spurs me on! Let me know what you think! Enjoy! And don't forget the poll!
> 
> Warnings: A bit of language and talk of rape. :C
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 4,168

For being at least thrice her size, when Sakura flicked him, he went far further than anyone would have expected. He goes flying head over heels five or six times before landing flat on his back and skidding for two or three feet before settling in place. He just lays there, unmoving. Sakura is certain that it didn't kill him, she can see his chest rising and falling, but also she didn't hit him with enough force to even break his neck. He's just stunned, well, they all are. Maybe Sakura should really learn to reign in her anger. People stare at the space, Sakura's sure what used to be the bandit boss was standing, and then looking toward where he finally landed.

Sakura rolls her shoulders back and shakes her head. Her hand still poised in the air, she steps closer to the rest of the bandits. "I told you to leave. You didn't listen. Now what should I do?" He words come out coyly and that only seems to aggravate the opposing men. She can hear the civilians behind her shift nervously. Even after her display they are still a little hesitant at the large numbers.

One of the bandits, a tall, scrawny man who smells like he hasn't bathed in a month, turns toward her and yells out like a battle cry, "You bitch!" He moves smoothly, which surprised Sakura a bit, sword raised up high over his head. Sakura stands her ground, not at all afraid. After being through everything that she has and living a life where bandits are laughed at and considered a punishment job, she couldn't bring herself to fear these men. But she can understand the damage they do to normal civilians who've never unlocked their chakra.

For being as pregnant as she is, there is no chance of her utilizing a lot of taijutsu, the last thing she would want is to hurt herself or the Fourth's soul. She can do a little bit here and there but she doesn't want to risk putting too much strain on herself and possibly tempt fate into her stomach somehow being wounded. She quickly glances over her shoulder to see the wide eyes of children staring back in shock and awe.

Sakura curses quietly, turning her gaze forward again. Her first thought was to send a kunai that was in the hand still at her side right into the man's chest, but that might be too graphic for the kids. At the last moment, Sakura's hand holding the kunai flies up to block the sword, while the other rears back for a punch and hits him square in the chest, sending him flying back as well. That one she cracked a rib, she felt it snap beneath her fingers.

Sakura was well aware of the, what she thought was a cardinal rule for all bandits to follow, that shinobi were not to be fucked with. Sakura was one of those people who didn't believe in senseless killing but nothing boils her blood quite as hot as when the strong or the wicked hurt the weak or the innocent. Especially now that she's pregnant, her hormones and her protective instincts are on over-drive. If there is anything that the reborn Fourth is going to take away from his time with her, it's that he'd better not be a little jackass to people or she's going to beat the shit out of him.

Perhaps such a cardinal rule doesn't exist out here because shinobi are not in abundance out here. Sakura knows there are a few Hidden Villages to the far north of here, bordering with the Land of Earth, but she wasn't sure about west or south. She's never been this far. Perhaps she will have to look at a map at her next convenience.

"Listen up!" Sakura yells, stomping her foot to make all heads jerk to her direction. "The next ass-" she glances back at the children and clears her throat, she's going to have a kid of her own, she can't be talking like that for too much longer. "The next punk that wants to mess with me or this village is going to become a smear on the side of the road, get me?" Shit stain, would have worked better instead of smear, in Sakura's opinion but there are children present and Sakura was raised better than that, unfortunately.

The group of bandits stagger back, looking amongst themselves looking for the next person attempting to take the pinkette on, before the first man, the one in the way back, turns tail and runs as fast as he can away. In about a minute and a half, all of them are out of her sight. They even managed to pick up their two friends on their way out. Sakura waits until they are all gone, before she finally turns around to see the people gawking at her. She steps up to Kyouya and reaches up to touch his cheek, it's red even against his tan skin.

"Are you okay, Kyouya?" she asks, secretly happy that he didn't flinch from her touch. He just nods dumbly. Sakura laughs, feeling the tension in her shoulders release. "Can I heal that wound for you?"

That draws him from his daze. He blinks rapidly. "What? This?" He touches his cheek, flinching when the skin burned.

Sakura smiles. "Yes, goofball. I'm a doctor."

"I thought you were a shinobi," he says slowly. He didn't exactly tell her not to, so Sakura reaches up and heals his cheek.

"I am," Sakura says. "I'm both. I get the feeling you've never seen a shinobi."

Kyouya blushes, straightening up. He busies his hands by smoothing out his ruffled appearance. "No, never actually. I've only ever heard of them. From the Land of Wind traders, actually. We only hear stories about ninja from their ninja village."

"I see," Sakura says, finishing healing him before taking a step back. "Is it scary for a shinobi to be here? I can leave if you want. Don't worry, I can take care of those bandits, I don't have to be here to do it."

Mama comes barreling out of the crowd, almost knocking a man with some sort of guarding instrument in his hand down. He sighs, not seemingly mad, probably used to her antics. Mama grips Sakura's hands in a vice grip. The strength in those little hands impresses Sakura a bit. For such a little woman, she's got a surprising amount of strength. She did just almost knock over a full grown man. Then again, people would probably say the same for Sakura's strength.

"No way in hell, little lady, you aren't going anywhere!" Mama says, then blinks, looking over at the kids. "Don't repeat that, okay, sweeties? Mama needs to wash her mouth out, huh?" She smiles down at the chorus of little kids yelling out affirmations. Somehow that alone releases the tension of the people.

"That was amazing!" A young boy with a large gap between his two front teeth stares at her with wide, awe-filled eyes. Before long all of the kids were circled around the pink haired girl, excitedly asking questions. Sakura doesn't have enough time even really think about the questions before another is asked. So, she just settles with staring at them and smiling, hoping the steam will wear off soon. Will the Fourth be like this?

Eventually it does and the parents finally manage to shoo their children indoors before they gather around Sakura looking at her as if she was something to be marveled at. Yes, Sakura is pretty impressive, even by shinobi standards, but compared to people like Naruto and Sasuke, she was nothing. Still, it did embarrass her and maybe there was a little bit of flattery in there at the look of awe in their eyes.

"So, you'll stay?" Mama says, raising her eyebrows, then shakes her head. "Oh, course you're staying! No way am I letting a sweet girl like you out there all on your own!"

Sakura didn't want to say that she had been on her own for a while now. That she didn't know she would be having a prolonged visit, that before she stopped for the night and helped these people, she had no intention of staying for a long time. But now, standing here, looking into the joyus and curious eyes of the people that were mistreated yet still welcomed her with open arms, Sakura couldn't bring herself to leave just yet.

"I would like to stay," Sakura says slowly, watching the faces of the villagers. "But only if you will allow it. I don't want any trouble here. For myself or any of you. I just need some place to settle down for a little while until my child is born. Then I will be out of your hair."

Mama tuts, shaking her head. "No way," she says, puffing out her chest as if trying to make herself bigger. "You are staying right here! You are a hero! You saved us!"

An old man with thick eyebrows and a long beard, hunched over with a cane to support him walks through the crowd toward the girl. He's the mayor of the small village. Sort of. He's the eldest in it, therefore he's in charge. His name is Genna and he's got to be almost eighty years old. Or at least in his mid to late seventies. Sakura had spoken to him three or four times since she got to the small village. He's a kind, reminiscent old man. He reminds Sakura a lot of the Third.

"Malanma is right, dear girl," Genna says, his voice old and uneven. "You are always welcomed here, young one. For it will be a long time before we can ever repay you for the kindness and possible peace you have brought us."

Sakura bows her head. "Thank you Genna-sama. I am honored to be welcomed."

Sakura's green eyes flicker around in the growing darkness at the kind and smiling faces of the people of the village. There is so much... Sakura couldn't think of the word... depth, perhaps, between these people. They grew up together, suffered loss and felt great joy with one another. They treat each other and everyone they meet with kindness and were targets for it.

Those men attacked this little village because there are no warriors here and while they have strong young men, they are overrun by the shear size of the bandit force. Sakura has no delusions, this won't be the end of them. They will come back. Sakura definitely hasn't scared them enough to send them packing forever. She can feel it in her bones. They'll be back and they'll be meaner than before. Or they'll try to be. The only thankful thing Sakura can look forward to now, is the fact that shinobi are uncommon in these parts.

What are the chances they'll find a rogue around here? And what are the chances of the rogue assisting if they do?

"So," Sakura says, smiling at the woman bustling around her room living up to the nickname given to her, "Malanma is a very pretty name."

Mama flushes, smiling over at the young pink haired girl. She lays down the pillow she was fluffing on Sakura's bed to walk over to her. "Thank you, sweet girl." She picks up the unmoving brush in Sakura's hand and starts running it through Sakura's pink hair. Without the need to keep it short and out of the way, Sakura's let her hair grow out a bit in the last few months. And being pregnant accelerates the growth of both her hair and her nails. Now her hair has reached passed her shoulders and if Sakura doesn't keep her nails nice and trim they grow out of control quickly.

"Why did you stop using it?" Sakura asks, relishing in the relaxing feeling of someone pampering her.

Mama's hands run through Sakura's hair gentle and carefully. "It's too hard for little mouths to say and besides, for as long as I can remember, I've always loved taking care of people. It just fits." It sure did, in Sakura's opinion.

"Thank you for letting me stay," Sakura says after a long time of just listening to the brush go through her smooth pink hair. Mama's hands occasionally running through it to feel the softness. Sakura has to wonder if Mama always wanted a daughter. She spoke of a son but nothing more. Not a husband or any other children. She wasn't even all that clear on what happened with her son.

"It's not an issue," Mama says. "You saved us! This is the least I can do. We, I mean." She laughs. Sakura smiles. A few minutes later they are in silence once more, Sakura staring out the window, seeing Mama in the reflection, gently, tenderly caring for her hair as if it were fine silk. Yes, Sakura is nearly certain of it. Mama must have wanted a daughter in her life but something must have happened to prevent that from becoming reality. Or perhaps she did have a daughter, but like her son, things didn't go according to her wishes.

Which makes Sakura sad. Such a kind and gentle woman like Mama definitely deserved happiness. It's just unfortunate that she sits around in this dark inn all by herself, just killing time until someone else she can pamper comes along. That's no life, in Sakura's opinion, yet Mama doesn't seem unhappy. In fact, all the woman does is smile and have fun. She reminds Sakura of Naruto.

"Why are you here, Sakura?" Mama asks, her hands stilling. Her voice is soft and nonthreatening. "Why are you not home with your family and friends?"

Sakura's eyes lower to the night pants she's wearing, lightly plucking at one of the loose threads. "I'm couldn't be there right now," Sakura says slowly. She doesn't elaborate on what the reasons are. She hoped Mama would ask for more about it.

Mama must have sensed that she was entering unwelcomed ground and quickly shifted topics. "And the baby? Who is it's father?"

Sakura wasn't sure how to answer that. In one way, the baby didn't have one. It wasn't even really hers. It's just using her body to grow inside of. He, she reminds herself, the soul inside of her is a boy. The soul of the Fourth Hokage. The baby didn't really have a mother either. Sakura is the one carrying him to term, true, but she shares no genetic connection to him at all.

And in the other, less appropriate way but not any less true, she could say that the Fourth himself was the father and the one to be born, which only hurt her mind more. He was the one that put the child inside her, so long as one doesn't really try to over analyze the definition of father, that would be him.

But Sakura wasn't so sure how Mama would take Sakura saying that some forty year old leader of her village was the father, oh, and let's not forget that he's been dead for sixteen years. It sounds completely crazy to Sakura having even thought it. There was nothing sane or normal about the entire situation that Sakura has somehow managed to get herself wrapped up in.

"I wonder..." Sakura murmurs, not sure what else to say.

"What?" Mama says, walking around Sakura to look down at the pink haired girl with wide eyes. "You don't know who the father is?" Mama looks like the words don't compute to her even though they came from her own lips, then a look of horror crosses her face and she leans in close, eyes wide. "Were you raped, sweet girl?" Mama asks, a hand rising to her face. It's trembling.

Sakura watches the movement, not sure she understands. "What do you-" Sakura shakes her head, not sure she heard right. "Did you ask if I was...? No, Mama, no, I wasn't raped." Sakura laughs nervously, wondering how she somehow managed to get here. "It's not like that!"

Mama looks relieved, her hand settles on her chest, over her heart. "You hear all those terrible horrible stories about young girls getting pulled into buildings or back alleys or drugged," Mama says, shaking her head. She doesn't elaborate further, seemingly more of her own sanity rather than Sakura's sake. Sakura does understand. She's a teenage girl who's dealt with men all her life.

At eight years old, her parents put her into the academy under a male teacher. Iruka Umino. Now, Sakura loves him to death. She's never once been concerned for her safety when with him. He's kind and caring and Sakura could never even imagine a moment when such dark thoughts could cross his mind. Up until just before the war started, Sakura went back to see him because now that they were on the same level, position wise, they were friends.

Same with Ino's dad. Inoichi Yamanaka. Outside of her own father, she had never really interacted one on one with a grown man. She was still just eight years old, but he was Ino's dad and he was just like Iruka. He was kind and caring and loved Ino to death. He spoiled her rotten and often let Sakura come along for the ride. He would walk Sakura home sometimes when her mother insisted that she could spend the night because they had obligations in the morning. Sakura never thought to be afraid of him. And like Iruka, he never gave any sort of inkling toward any dark intentions. He was just a kind man, taking care of his daughter's friend. Nothing more.

And at twelve, she met the first man that she would be spending more than just a couple hours with every day. Kakashi Hatake. She was on a team of all boys and still she wasn't afraid. Sakura wasn't afraid of him either. Like Iruka and Inoichi, he wasn't shady to Sakura in the slightest. He was her sensei and he took the job of protecting her seriously. He may not have been the number one teacher in the world, but Sakura never doubted that he would protect her.

Now, at sixteen, Sakura knows that being so openly trusting isn't a luxury that a shinobi, or even a girl, really, should have. But Sakura is also aware that she has been greatly fortunate her entire life. Sakura doesn't fear men. She knows that not every man in the world is a scumbag. That was just three perfect examples of why she believes that. Even Naruto and Sasuke could do something less than honorable at any point, but that's all about life.

Anyone could be affected, not just woman, but Mama probably couldn't see it that way. She was probably raised here. She's probably never had to encounter such a horrendous thing. Sakura was too young when she was taken under Lady Tsuande's tutelage for that to even be a thought in her head, after a few years, when then thought was put there it wasn't fear that accompanied it. It was weary. Sakura was stronger than most people, there was very few that could get the upper hand in a physical situation if Sakura really didn't want something. That and she had many friends that would look out for her. She was never overly worried. Sakura would like to believe that she could live in a world where a woman, or even a man, it could happen to anyone, could walk down a dark road and not have to worry about what could be out there. Who.

But that's not life. It's not this life at least, and Sakura can just imagine how horrible the stories must be to an older woman like Mama, who, like Sakura, never had to worry about that sort of thing, to just learn about it happening all around her. That's right, Sakura grew up happy and healthy. She grew up without fearing that something horrible might happen to her. She grew up with no dark secrets that woke her in the night or made her mistrusting of anyone and everyone. She has lots of friends, guys and girls. She trusts a lot of people and she was raised, and trained, by the most amazing people in the world.

Kakashi might not be in the running for best sensei in the world, but he did teach Sakura something vitally important that she will never forget and will instill into the Fourth's learning as well; never take the people you love for granted. Always look out for them. Always protect them. One day, they will be gone, one way or another and you want to be able to look back at the times that you had together and know that you did everything you could.

The point is, Sakura never thought that her words would illicit that kind of response from Mama, because it wasn't a reality to Sakura. It just wasn't something that she had to worry about. It wasn't... Sakura didn't know how else to see it. She had other, more important things to worry about. It was a legitimate worry and she's definitely less trusting of men now then she was as a little girl, but she's not... afraid. She's not. She feels bad for not having thought far enough ahead to be more careful of her words. This wasn't home, she didn't know the customs here.

"I'm sorry, Mama," Sakura says. "I didn't mean to make it seem like something bad happened to me. That's not the case."

Mama sighs in relief, walking around Sakura to keep playing with her hair. Running the brush through it again, although Sakura doubts that she still needs it, but the action is gentle and lulling. "That's good," Mama finally says. "I hear such horrible scary things about the goings on out there and it's appalling. Such things are not accepted here, no way!" she huffs. Sakura smiles, somehow not at all surprised by the woman's words. Of course it wouldn't be, with a village like this? Small? Close-knit? There was almost no chance.

Mama's hands stop in Sakura's hair once more. "Can you tell me about him? The father, I mean? What was he like?"

Sakura hesitates. Not at all sure what to say. She read the Fourth's file forward and backwards at least a hundred times and yet that doesn't really tell her anything about him as a person. "Well liked by colleagues" isn't exactly something that Mama would probably appreciate hearing. But Sakura didn't know anything else. She could tell her all the missions he went on, some in great detail. She could tell her about his short but efficient reign as Hokage, but she didn't know him personally. She only met him that once and she was in more shock about the dead talking to her then analyzing what kind of person the Fourth was.

"He's... not an easy topic to discuss," Sakura says. "I'm not sure right now if I would be able to anything into words without somehow throwing my foot in there," Sakura admits.

"It's fine, every girl is entitled to a secret or two," Mama says, settling the brush down on the bed. "I best let you sleep. I'm sure the people will be anxious to see you again tomorrow."

Sakura nods, watching the older woman walk over to the door from the reflection in the window. "And Mama," Sakura calls out just as the woman is about to close the door. She opens it up a little more to peak inside. Sakura turns around in her seat and smiles. "Thank you."

Mama smiles back, "You too, pretty girl, you too!" Then she softly closes the door behind her. Sakura turns back to face the window, staring off into the darkness, having no clue what to expect next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: Check out the poll on my page on fanfiction.net! Winged Lady Colette. Have a good day!


	6. Tendrils of darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your support! It really spurs me on! I enjoy hearing everything you have to say! All your thoughts and predictions of the future in this story! :D Sorry for the wait and thank you to all that have participated in the poll thus far! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: Talk of children being taken into possible slavery and language.
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 5,601

If Sakura needed two words to describe Kyouya, they would be: Loyal Puppy. Ever since Sakura saved the little village, he's been following her around, practically waiting on her hand and foot. It's a bit endearing. If he was younger, she would consider trying to train him a bit to help him protect this little village. Sakura immediately sends the thought away. She doesn't have the qualifications of being a sensei, nor does she really even know what she's doing. In reality, all Sakura has been doing this entire time is making it up as she goes.

The people are grateful to Sakura for saving them, it's obvious. Everyone is really kind to Sakura. The pink haired girl keeps her presence prominent around the village, while keeping an eye on the horizon. Making sure those bandits don't get the gall to come around again as she fears that they will. The last thing she wants is for them to come back for their revenge so soon. But it seems that they are still too busy licking their wounds to be concerned, which is just the way that Sakura wants it.

It wasn't smart to take them on, Sakura knows this, especially because she's pregnant, but Sakura just couldn't bring herself to turn away from people in need. It just wasn't an option in her life. It wasn't the way she was wired. She doesn't regret helping them, she does regret not being able to help them more. At the current time, there isn't much that she can do or than keep an eye on the world and stay under the radar.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Kyouya asks.

Sakura blinks slowly, pulling herself out of her thoughts before turning to look over at the boy next to her. She smiles at him. "I'm just keeping my eyes on the horizon. You never know when the enemy may be back."

Kyouya looks around slowly, dark green eyes turning toward the horizon wearily. "Do you think that they could be planning to attack?" His eyebrows pull together worriedly. Sakura smiles, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

"Don't worry too much. I said I would look out for you guys, take care of those bandits before they become any more of a nuisance. Look," Sakura turns to him and looks up into his dark eyes. "I'm sorry that those men were terrorizing your people and I kind of butted my nose into your business."

Kyouya shakes his head, pushing his brown hair away from his eyes. "No, you saved us. And you... you were amazing. I never knew that someone would be able to do such a thing." He waves his hands around ambiguously. "I've seen a ninja... or even a woman..." he blushes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make that..."

Sakura shakes her head too, smiling kindly. "Yes, well, I understand what you are saying. Even in the shinobi world, women only just recently started to gain power. And as for my power... well," Sakura laughs, eyes seeing her beautiful blond teacher, staring back with hard brown eyes, "let's just say that I had a very powerful female master and she's all for women being independent and strong."

Kyouya smiles a bit, a light tinge of red on his cheeks. "I guess that can't be seen as a bad thing."

Sakura looks over at the horizon once more before turning away and walking back toward the village. Kyouya follows after her, once again reenforcing Sakura's notion about Kyouya. They stop next to the makeshift school for the kids of all ages sitting listening to their lessons. Sakura just looks at all their little faces. Mixtures of boredom and interest along with a longing to go outside and play around.

"Are you scared?" Kyouya asks quietly.

Sakura looks over at him, tilting her head. "About what? Those bandits?" she scoffs playfully. "I'm pretty sure I can handle them, pregnant or not."

Kyouya smiles faintly. "No, not them. Although I am happy to see that you aren't worried about them. But what I was referring to the fact that you're... I mean, you're going to have a baby. Be a mother. You're like... um... my age..."

Sakura watches him, smiling. He's too adorable. Just like a little puppy. "I know. It's kind of crazy isn't it. How two people can live such crazy different lives." She turns away and watches the children. "I remember when I was school. Where I come from children don't have to go to school. There is nothing like this. There is only the academy. It where we learned to become ninja."

Kyouya shakes his head. "That is so cool! And everyone can do what you can do?"

Sakura shrugs. "Everyone is different. Not everyone can do everything I can do the exact same way I do it, but anything is possible. Anything is possible when you are dealing with chakra, never forget that."

Kyouya nods very slowly, looking past her thoughtfully. "Anyone is capable of using chakra?"

Sakura nods. "Sort of. Anyone is capable of unlocking their chakra. Now whether or not you can use it is just up to you and your body. Some people just can't use it, or at least control it. I have a friend who's like that. He's one of the best taijutsu specialist that I've ever met."

"Taijutsu? What's that?" Kyouya asks.

"Hand to hand combat," Sakura replies, looking up at the sky, thinking about her green jumpsuit wearing friend. "It's a form of shinobi fighting."

Kyouya looks fascinated by Sakura's words. He shifts a bit, thinking to himself for a moment. The he nods and looks over at Sakura, considering his words before finally asking, "Is it bad to want to know more? Will I get my ass kicked if I ask more about it?"

Sakura shakes her head. "Not at all. It's basic shinobi information that any shinobi could know." Sakura hesitates a moment before tentative adding, "If you were younger, I may have considered taking you on as a student. I think it's something that while I'm away from the village... I should do it." Sakura runs a hand through her hair, it's getting longer. Sakura's not sure she wants her pink tresses to grow to the length that they used to be.

"You would have? What's s...stopping you?" Kyouya asks quietly. His green eyes looks at her, wide and kind.

Sakura crosses her arms over her chest, pursing her lips in thought. "It's easier to train people when they are younger but I think you could learn a thing or two if you really want to learn. But learning the ways of a shinobi isn't a choice to be made lightly. I come from a village where being a shinobi was the only real choice for the children at the time unless they had other wishes. For a little girl like myself who had no real purpose, being a shinobi is the only real coarse of action for me." Sakura shrugs not really all that upset by her own words. "Luckily for me, I found some passion for it. But not all do."

Kyouya's eyebrows pull together as he considers her words. "Does that mean... you'll train me?" His eyes widen even more.

Sakura runs her hands up and down her arms. "I think so..." she looks up into his eyes. "If you want to be trained to be a shinobi, then you have to use the power you get to help save the people here. I've learned a long time ago," Sakura turns to look down at the children in the make-shift school house once more, "that the old belief that shinobi are just tools for destruction is wrong. Can you understand that?"

Kyouya nods slowly, his eyes sharpening with determination. "Please help me protect my family."

Sakura looks at him again. "I'll give you a few days to think about it. As I said, it's not a choice to made lightly. You aren't a child. It's not something that can just be decided now. Take some time to really think about it, okay?"

"But-" Kyouya starts to protest but Sakura holds up her hand to stop him.

"Think about it. And I mean really think about it. We'll talk about it again in a couple of days," she says, turning toward Mama's inn. "I'll see you later. Come get me immediately if something happens. If those bandits try and make a move. I don't think that they would so soon but you can never be too sure." Kyouya nods but doesn't seem to be all that happy about Sakura not taking him seriously right away.

"Yeah, okay, bye," Kyouya says softly as Sakura slipped by him.

Mama is as welcoming as always. Sakura sits with the older woman at the desk and talk. Mama's husband, "a strapping young man named Hanzie" in her words, died along with one of their sons in one of the raids by those bandits three years ago. He was like the self proclaimed protector of the village even though he wasn't as young and youthful as he used to be. Years and years of working out in the fields kept him strong and healthy. Together they bore seven kids. Six boys and one girl.

From oldest to youngest: Kalvin, Jiroshi, Doshimaya, Yamada, Maubdin, Fenya and Yumi.

But they have had a long string of horrible luck. Kalvin was killed by sickness at ten that plagued the land. It was something that consumed the Land of Endless fields and killed almost half of the population of the country. And ironically, it was a special shinobi from the Land of Fire that saved them. Sakura's own mentor, Lady Tsunade, was traveling through the lands when the plague hit. Sakura was unaware of the fact that Lady Tsunade came this way.

Jiroshi left home at sixteen to travel the world as a merchant. He found his passion in selling rare goods found around the world. It's something he loves to do and something he's good at. At twenty-five he returned to see Mama and Hanzie, with a wife and newborn and swore that he wouldn't be returning to the village. That he was heading further south. That was the last she ever heard from him.

Doshimaya stayed with them for a while, one of the few kids that stayed in the village, had a wife and was even going to have some children. But then fate once again took a horrible turn. Out in the fields Doshimaya had a stroke and was out there alone in the field and died. He had a daughter, she's all grown up now, having also left the village to lead her own life.

Yamada is alive and alright as far as Mama knew, but he got into an argument with Hanzie and ran away before he was sixteen. Mama tried everything she could to try and convince him to stay but he left. He wouldn't listen to her. He was the one that she was thinking of the first night Mama and Sakura met. He made the choice to leave despite Mama's plea.

Maubdin was the son that was killed alongside his father when the bandits started coming around. He tried to defend their home with his father and like all the men, young and old, that tried to stand up to the bandits, they were cut down.

Fenya and Yumi were twins. Both born eleven years ago. Fanya and Yumi were both taken away by the bandits. Yumi, because she was a pretty little girl and Fanya because he looked a lot like Yumi, they were both taken away by the bandits.

Mama is the only one left in town and even though it's rough some times, she's been able to pull through. She keeps holding on to hope that she will see her children again, while at the same time, she hopes she doesn't. She doesn't want to think that they have been suffering since they were taken about two years ago. But Mama would do just about anything to make sure that they are okay, or that they are at least somewhere where they can find peace.

Sakura didn't ask her to explain. It already makes sense to her. She wants her children to be alive and happy but if they're suffering, she'd rather they be dead. And that breaks Sakura's heart. If she was in Mama's position, she would be hunting those bandit bastards down and rip each and every one of their hearts out. If she had gone through so much loss, she would be adamant about getting them back.

But Mama wasn't in a position to do so. She wasn't young and strong like Sakura. And she's absolutely terrified of those bandits. They've ruined her life. She doesn't have the strength to defend herself. But Sakura can. Once Sakura gives birth, she is going to do a little bit of hunting. It may be too late for Yumi and Fanya but Sakura is going to at least make sure that those fuckers will never again be able to take a child from his or her mother and father.

"Mama," Sakura says slowly, narrowing her eyes, "I am so sorry for your losses. But don't you worry. They will pay. I'll make sure of it."

Mama turns away for a moment, to rub the fresh tears from her eyes. She takes a few minutes to collect herself as Sakura rubs comforting circles into the back of the woman's hand, holding it tightly in her own two hands. Then Mama turns to look back at Sakura and gives the pink haired girl a watery smile. "Thank you sweetheart, but I wouldn't dare ask you to do something like that for me. As much as I want my children to... find peace," she says it as if she's trying to make it seem like she hasn't often thought of the ill fate her children must have gone through, "but you don't owe us anything. Everything you've done up to this point is just a blessing. Thank you!" She pulls Sakura into a tight hug.

The pinkette didn't pull away. She wraps her arms around the plump woman and turns her gaze out the window. These people have been so kind to her when they had absolutely no reason to. Although, Sakura has the aching suspicion that the reception she received would have been vastly different if she just so happened to be a man. But regardless of what Mama said. She will make them pay. She's vindictive like that.

Sakura narrows her eyes even more. She may not be here to help them out but that doesn't mean that she can't. Just like before, she can't condone bad things happening around her without doing something to help the innocent.

"I told Kyouya that I would train him," Sakura says once the two woman have separated.

Mama looks confused by her words. "What do you mean, pretty girl?"

"I'm a shinobi. I have the ability to teach him too. It will stop most in their tracks if they go up against a shinobi. And I can't stay here forever. But I can start a chain reaction." Sakura looks at Mama meaningfully.

Mama considers her words, before looking at Sakura with big eyes. "You can make him strong like you?"

Sakura shrugs. "In a way. The training I received will be vastly different from his training, but at least I can give him the power to protect the village against normal bandits like the ones that terrorized you for the last few years. He agreed to it, but I wanted him to take a few days to really think about it. He's already got a job, working out in the fields. He needs to know that shinobi training is demanding and because of his age, it's going to be even harder." Sakura runs a hand through her hair, lifting his off her neck to wave her hand around it, trying to cool down. Today is a particularly hot day.

Mama's eyebrows pull together. "What do you mean by 'because of his age'? What does that have to do with anything?"

Sakura shrugs her shoulders. "It's not like it's dangerous or anything, it's just that because he's older it's going to be harder for him to reign in control of his chakra, the thing that shinobi use to give them their power. And because he has no shinobi blood in him, it only means he'll start out with less-than-favorable amounts of chakra and probably no control of it." Mama raises her eyebrows, not at all sure what Sakura's saying. "The younger they are when they unlock their chakra, the better off they will be in all the aforementioned areas. It's easier for children to absorb things as opposed to adults."

Mama taps her nail against her bottom lip in thought. "So, what you are saying is that you are willing to train our children to at least be able to protect us?"

Sakura blinks rapidly. She's not sure she said that at all, but she wouldn't turn them down if they asked. "Well, not really. I mean, I would if you wanted but that's solely up to the parents. Being a shinobi allows people to do things I'm sure you wouldn't be able to imagine. It's being able to use the rejuvinating energies inside your body. It makes what used to be impossible for normal people, possible."

Mama looks interested, leaning in closer. "Like what?"

"Move faster, become stronger than you ever thought possible. Things like that. Power over the elements." The corner of Sakura's mouth quirks upward a bit at Mama's look of wonder.

"How is that possible?" Mama asks. "The power over the elements? Like water and fire, right?"

Sakura nods. "The five base elements is water, fire, earth, wind and lightning. Everyone is born being able to control one element easier than all the others. My base element is water, but I don't really use it. If I wanted to, I could learn a lot of water style techniques and they would come easier to me as opposed to any of the others because it's my base element."

Mama shakes her head, amazed. "And everyone is able to use this power?"

Sakura holds up a hand. "Everyone is able to unlock it. But whether you can use it or not, is up to your body and your own dedication. I have a friend named Lee, he had chakra but was unable to use it because he had absolutely no control over it. But after hard work on his and his sensei's part, he's able to use it. Not a lot, but he's able to at least mold it a bit."

Mama looks fascinated. She chews on her lower lip in thought, eyes traveling around the room. "I'll talk to the other adults. See what they think. Then we'll probably be talking again, okay little miss!" She waggles her finger at Sakura playfully. "Don't be going no where, you hear?"

Sakura smiles. "I've got you, Mama."

Mama smiles back, patting Sakura's cheek. The young soon-to-be mother stands up slowly before heading up the stairs to her room. Sakura unseals her room and heads in. Sakura goes into the bathroom to relieve herself, since getting pregnant, she's had to pee at least seven or eight times a day. She can only imagine how much worse it's going to get as she gets more pregnant. Sakura lays her hands onto both sides of the sink, looking at her reflection.

Her face looks the same. Her hair is longer and looks a little strange without her headband, but her skin is still pale and smooth and her eyes are still the bright green they've always been. Sakura looks a little strange with the large yukata that she's using to hide her pregnant belly, but if she just looked at the top half of her body, aside from her slightly swelling breasts, she looks pretty much the same.

If that's true. If she appears to be the same person, why doesn't she feel like it? Why is when she looks at her reflection, it's not really her staring back? She hasn't really changed, she thinks, but it's like the pregnant Sakura and the student of Tsunade are two totally different people.

And Sakura doesn't know what to think about it.

As soon as Sakura opened her eyes, she knew she was in a dream. She knew, because she was at training ground 7, sitting on the same post that Naruto was tied to back in her genin days. Sakura looks out over the lake, watching the leaves from the surrounding trees fall into it, disrupting it's otherwise smooth surface. Sakura reaches up and touches her long hair, then her red dress. No sign of her pregnant belly.

Once her mind realized that, it immediately went to correcting the mistake, even though Sakura was positive that she was dreaming. She forces the changes of her body to disappear and she drops down from the post and walks toward the lake in her twelve year old body, carrying it like her sixteen year old one. Sakura stops at the edge of the lake, feeling this pull toward it. She leans over the smooth, glass-like surface and looks down at her reflection. Her reflection stares back at her without an expression.

Sakura's eyebrows pull together. She watches as the reflection's does too. Then something catches her eye. On the opposite side of the lake, a darkness creeps across the glass like angry smoky tenticles, corrupting everything it touches. The leaves wither and dry up before disappearing into the darkness. It crawls across the lake slowly, making it's way toward the pink haired girl.

Sakura's eye's widen before something pulls the green orbs back down to her reflection, it's staring back at her with narrowed eyes.

"Run, you idiot!" she yells and Sakura doesn't have to be told twice. She spins around in a way that would have normally sprained ankle, but for some reason, it didn't hurt. Sakura darts for the gates as fast as her little legs could take her. That's right! She's short at twelve! Well, she is at sixteen too, but she's at least a head taller at the later age.

When Sakura's eyes drop down again, she's in her normal shinobi garbs at sixteen. The red dress is replaced by a pink skirt and black spandex shorts, along with her pink arm warmers and red shirt. Her all time favorite boots and gloves appear as well. Sakura's speed increases as her leg reach does.

Daring a backward glance, Sakura sees the darkness quickly picking up speed, but Sakura has managed to put a lot of distance between her and whatever that was. She looks back forward and forces her legs to move faster, drawing her closer and closer to the gate. She blows past it, not even stopping to see if the two guards usually stationed there are present. Her legs take her to the market place where she stops cold.

It's filled with people, all in the middle of daily activities; children running around chasing each other, venders trying to get people's attention, customers looking over inventories and going in and out of shops. Except they are all frozen in the actions. Unmoving. Their entire bodies have a blue tinge to them. Sakura looks around confused. She runs to the nearest person, it's Naruto. Sakura was both relieved and horrified to see her best friend. Especially with some kind of life force sucking darkness behind her.

"Naruto!" Sakura calls out, relief in her voice. "Naruto! I need your help something is chasing me! Naruto!" Sakura looks up into the neutral face of her best friend, waving her hand around in front of his eyes, but there is no reaction. Sakura reaches out and touches his cheek. He immediately turns to ash. Sakura yelps and pulls her hand back, bumping into someone behind her-they too turn to ash. She throws her arms around herself, keeping a safe distance between herself and any other pedestrian. Sakura can't comprehend what is happening.

Sakura spins around, crazed. Her eyes scan the area, trying to figure out where she is. She sees the road that will take her home and makes for it. She gets about three steps before turning back to look at the ash that was once her best friend, biting her lip. She turns back to get out the market and tries to avoid touching as many people as possible, but the streets are crowded and people keep turning to ash left and right. Men, women. Young and old. No one is safe. Friends or not. Sakura ducks her head, trying not to see her basically killing people.

In her peripheral vision, Sakura can see the darkness crawling over the wall and creeping down the streets, giving chase. Sakura picks up her speed, silently apologizing to the frozen forms of the people of her home before just plowing through them and running. She trips going up the steps out of the market but pulls herself up again.

Eventually she finds herself on her street and in no time gets to her house. She runs inside, slamming the door loudly behind her, looking around frantically. She had no idea what drew her here.

"Mom? Dad?" Sakura calls, her voice thick, tears filling her eyes. She quickly blinks them away. "Is there anyone home? Hello?"

Sakura's not sure if she expected them to answer her or not, but they didn't. The house is dead silent, just like all of Konoha. Silent as death. Sakura's only had a few of those moments in her life, she never thought that one of them would appear now. In her own home. Sakura's nails scrap against the wooden door as they go from flat against the wood into a fist. It was a second later that Sakura remembered that she had gloves on. She looks down and her fists are covered in black gloves. There is something that Sakura's missing.

She shakes the thought away and darts up the stairs. She makes it into her room and closes the door, looking around it, trying to find something in it that could help her. Her eyes settle on her mirror after doing a double take. A twelve year old Sakura stares back at her, looking annoyed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asks.

"I... I..." Sakura shakes her head, unable to believe that her reflection is talking back to her. "Who...?"

Her reflection narrows her eyes even more. "It hasn't been so long as for you to forget. But hey, dummy, not now! You need to get out of here!" Sakura shakes her head again, her brain not allowing any cognitive thoughts to filter through it. Her reflection points passed Sakura and she looks. The darkness is crawling in under the crack in the bottom of the door. Sakura pulls her leg back just in time to avoid being touched.

"Get out of here!" her reflection yells and Sakura runs for the window, jumping and crashing thought it. The window shatters but there is no glass. Or if there was, Sakura didn't see it nor was she cut up by it. She hits the ground outside her window hard and has to immediately roll out of the way of a tendril, before climbing to her feet and running away. Something tells Sakura, if she gets touched by that darkness, it's all over. Sakura doesn't want to think about what that truly entails. Everything seems to slow down.

She rolls out of the way of another tendril going for her ankle. Duck under one that would have clothes-lined her at a t-intersection. Scramble past some flying out of buildings into the ones across the street. Yet somehow, Sakura is able to avoid getting touched and she finds herself in the academy training ground within academy grounds and falls to her knees next to the wall, unable to catch her breath. Her heart is pounding loudly in her ears. She watches in horror as the darkness crawls slowly toward her.

Out of the dark mass, it's long crooked fingers reach out. It's at that moment that Sakura can hear whispers. So faint that she can't make out what they are saying or id they are even boy or girl. It inches closer until it almost touches her boot, but she quickly pulls it to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs, eyes welling up with tears once more. It has been a long time since she has felt this worthless. And she hates herself for it. She doesn't have the strength to keep going, it's like all of her energy has been absorbed from her body.

Out of the shadows comes a mass, unmistakably human, made up of the dark smoke. It's sex is indistinguishable as it reaches out toward Sakura, closer and closer. The pink haired girl curses herself and closes her eyes, wishing she knew how to get away. But it's too late, it's too close. Even if she wanted to run, something tells her it would never stop chasing her and it would never tire.

There is a horrible screeching noise. Sakura pulls her head up. Between her and the shadowy figure is none other than the other soul inside of her body. The Fourth Hokage stands as a pill of protection between them. There is a light that radiates from him like a sun. The shadowy figure hisses and backs away. Swiping at him but refusing to get closer.

The Fourth turns around toward Sakura and kneels down. He gently wipes the tears from her cheeks and smiles softly. He truly is a handsome man. He giving her a kind and gentle smile that she's only seen on Naruto a handful of times.

"I'm scared..." Sakura whispers, knowing just how silly and young she sounds.

The Fourth nods. "I would think you were crazy if you weren't. Don't worry. I will protect you." He leans forward and kisses her forehead. "Wake up now," he whispers.

Sakura shoots up in bed, her eyes immediately landing on Mama. The older woman stares back, wide eyed and worried. She's perched at the edge of Sakura's bed with her hands lightly cupping the young girl's face. Sakura didn't feel her security seals going off, she must have forgot to set them before falling asleep. A dangerous move in the shinobi world.

"Oh dear girl," Mama says, "are you okay?"

Sakura nods slowly, swallowing thickly, looking around the room, watching as the shadows fade away once more. "Yes," Sakura rasps. "It was just a nightmare, Mama. Thank you. I'm sorry for waking you up."

Mama nods slowly, patting Sakura's cheek. "Okay, sweet girl, I'll be just down stairs if you need me." Mama looks reluctant to go but after a slow nod from Sakura, she does. Lightly closing the door behind her. The pink haired girl quickly wipes the tears from her face, calming her breathing down.

Sakura lays back against the headboard, looking around the room wearily, waiting for her erratically beating heart to slow down. She pulls the covers up to her chest, knowing full well that they can't really protect her from the things that go bump in the night, but she draws a bit of comfort for it. It was only then that she noticed the glow of the seal on her stomach. She pushes down the covers and lifts her night shirt, looking at the bright blue seal on her stomach. Had she subconsciously sent chakra to the seal?

Or was it the Fourth acting from within the seal?

Sakura shakes her head, watching as the characters slowly begin to fade away again. Sakura covers her stomach again and pulls up the comforter to her chin. Sakura looks around the room, wondering if the shifting in the shadows is something to really fear or if it's just her mind playing games on her. Was what she was just experiencing a nightmare, or something else entirely?


	7. The Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I am so sorry for taking so long! I hit a dry spot in this story and I was trying to figure out how to continue on and finally found something I want to roll with. Thank you to everyone who's been reading thus far. I love hearing what you guys have to say! Thanks! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None really, maybe language.
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 5,787

"Is being a shinobi dangerous?" was the question that Sakura heard at least a hundred times the next day. And every time she did, she replied with, "Any sort of lifestyle can be dangerous. Regardless if you work in the field or off. So yes, in a way, it is dangerous. But not all forms of ninja life revolve around going out and fighting the enemy head on."

Sakura tried her best to answer everyone's questions thoroughly as she could. A lot of them were the same, just asked in different ways. No body wanted to put their children's lives in danger but, at the same time, no one wanted to risk continuing to be helpless and at the mercy or brutes and thugs. She tried her best to show ninja life as being as positive as it could be without glorifying it. She wanted people to go into this knowing exactly what it meant. After the explanations, people would walk away looking like they had more questions then as opposed to when they first approached her.

Sakura didn't know how to explain to people in the perfect way who knew next to nothing about the life. In Sakura's home village, Konohagakure no Sato, one either became a ninja or they didn't. Simple as that. Both of Sakura's parents were shinobi, her mother formally, she quit so long ago, Sakura wonders if the blond woman even remembers her time as a shinobi. It's difficult for people who only know the horrors of simple men to see shinobi as anything but benevolent. Especially with the impression Sakura left them with. But she tired to be thorough. Not every person they would meet on the street was nice and that goes the same for shinobi. They are people too and some of them have a great capacity for cruelty.

The pink haired medical shinobi isn't so sure she got through to them as well as she would have liked.

"Mama," Sakura says, sitting next to the inn owner behind the front desk. The woman smiles at her, nodding for her to continue. Sakura runs a hand through her petal soft pink hair. "Is there a doctor in the village? Or someone that has medical training? I didn't really think about it much when I first came here, but if I'm going to have my baby here, I need to start planning ahead."

Mama nods. "Yes, there is a doctor the next town over who we look to to help us in things like childbirth and injuries and sickness." Mama smiles a little and glances over at Sakura. "But he's not going to be needed. Not anymore, right? At least not for a while?"

Sakura nods slowly, leaning back in her chair a bit to think to herself. "No, I wouldn't think so. I'll be staying around for a while and I don't mind helping out around here to pull my own weight. I'm just a guest here. There is a wide variety of things in the medical field that I can do that can help," Sakura says, picking up a piece of pink hair and twisting it around her finger. "Just let people know if they need help. I'm sure I can do some things."

"That would be very helpful!" Mama gushes. "So what are you going to do about the doctor? Do you want to meet the one the next town over. He's a nice man, but he's getting up there in years."

Sakura looks over at Mama, still playing around with her hair. "Oh? And how old is he?"

Mama squints out the window in front of her, trying to recall. When in thought, Sakura noticed that Mama often moves her jaw around. For no reason other than to just move it around. She's not saying anything or trying to make any sort of facial expression, it's just a habit that she's got and Sakura can't help but watch the plump woman all the while she does this strange facial habit. Finally, Mama looks back over at Sakura and says, "Ninety-two?" as if she is unsure. But either way, Sakura is blown away.

Sakura's face is lit up in surprise. She was kind of half out of her seat before lowering herself back, whistling impressed. She shakes her head and tries to wrap this new bit of information. She looks back over at Mama and asks, "Is there anyone else? Does he have an apprentice?"

Mama shrugs her shoulders. "Not that I know of." Sakura raspberries, pushing stray stands of pink hair from in front of her face. She continues twirling a long piece of pink hair.

"I've got my work cut out for me, huh?" Sakura asks, just for the sake of saying something, not all that interested in confirmation. Mama must have sensed this because she smiles like she's dealing with the ramblings of a child.

There is a long moment of silence before Mama finally asks, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Sakura shrugs her shoulders. "There is a lot that needs to be done. Such as we need a functioning doctor's office. It may not have top notch appliances and things such as that, but you never want to risk needing someone with any sort of medical skills and not be able to have one at your disposal. Accidents can happen, even in villages as small as these. Someone needs to at least know what they are doing. For the time being I can be that person but..." I'm not going to be here forever, Sakura couldn't say even thought it was the truth.

At some point Sakura wants to return to the Hidden Leaf. She wants to see her friends and family. She wants to see her Master and Senseis. She doesn't want to be as alone as she is now. Living in secret as she is.

Back home, she's Sakura Haruno: daughter, friend, student, confidant, ninja and doctor.

Here, she is Sakura, the mysterious shinobi from a hidden village with skills in healing and killing (or scaring off bandits, Sakura just assumes they realize that she's killed before but perhaps she shouldn't).

Somehow, these two girls feel extremely different. She's not the person that she used to be and for her safety and the safety of the Fourth's soul, she can't be the person she's always been up to this point.

"There's a house up the hill, it used to belong to a woman in my youth but it has been vacated for years now. I'm sure we can fix it up and use it for such a purpose, don't you think?" Mama asks.

Sakura nods. "Any sort of space can do for a makeshift walk in clinic but if it's already run down, that may be a bit better. Do we have expert builders? People who can build buildings up to proper code?"

Mama nods, eyes alight and eager. Sakura now has her undivided attention. "Yes, definitely! We will get started right away!" Sakura smiles her appreciation to the older woman and leans back into her chair, closing her eyes. Whilst on the road, it was easy to sort of forget that the world was spinning around her.

She had a goal when she started this journey, get far from the Leaf, while at the same time, not going too far. Now that's she's settled, all she can do now is live day by day. As a shinobi, everyday is a blessed gift, they never end up knowing when it will be their last, but now, Sakura isn't living with the same dangers. She can't just go spend the day in the library or tool around with Naruto or even spend the day out with the girls. Now she's left with her own thoughts and fears with no one logically to lean on.

Sure, Mama is really nice and caring, but she isn't part of Sakura's universe. She doesn't see the world like a ninja would, like someone who has walked a mile in Sakura's shoes, who knows the dangers and the difficulties such a life leads.

All Sakura can do at this point is hope and pray that by teaching younglings how to fight, it ends up protecting the people, not somehow putting them into more danger. That this doesn't turn out to be a curse rather than a gift.

 

It's late that night when Sakura is approached by Genna in Mama's Inn. Sakura knows it's him by the sound of his can tapping against the hardwood floors as he approaches from behind her. Mama had run off about a half hour earlier saying that there was a village meeting. She made Sakura a hearty dinner, insisted that it'd better all be gone by the time she returns, and scurried off.

Sakura motions toward the seat across from her in the lobby of the inn where three tables and chairs have been set up for customers, finishes off her soup before turning raising an eyebrow at Genna, waiting for the older man to start. Sakura had a pretty good idea as to what they were talking about, her training the younglings of the village to be shinobi, but now she just has to wait to hear what they have to say. Which is why she assumes that Genna is here to talk about.

Sakura can't really understand why they would send the eldest man in the village as opposed to Kyouya, who could probably make the distance in half the time, if he was even at the village meeting. Or, perhaps, Genna just wanted to talk to her himself.

"Sakura-chan," Genna finally says, his voice still weak and uneven.

"Genna-sama," Sakura says, tipping her head in greeting. "To what do I owe the honor?"

Genna holds onto his can between his legs, leaning on it even though he's sitting. He reaches a hand up and rubs his beard thoughtfully. "I assume that you already know why I'm here?"

Sakura shrugs her shoulders. "Is it about me training the children?"

Genna nods. "Would you be opposed to the idea? Ultimately, it would your precious time that is being taken up," Genna points out. As true as that is, Sakura didn't want to point out that she literally has an eighteen year break until her spawn is old enough to go out and protect the world. So, she wouldn't exactly call it precious per say, but somehow, telling Genna that just didn't seem to be the smartest thing to do.

"I don't mind," Sakura says, shrugging her shoulders again. "I'm not exactly doing anything urgent at the moment and besides, it'll help me brush up on the basics." And stave off boredom, Sakura didn't say. That just seemed unnecessary.

Genna smiles, pleased. "You are too kind to us, dear child. Kami must truly be smiling upon us to have sent you here."

Sakura smiles back. While she didn't believe that Kami had anything to do with why she was here, that in fact if Jiraiya and the Fourth were right about the impending doomsday, then Sakura's willing to bet what led her here was something on the darker side of the spectrum. It does make her feel good, however, that if things really are going to his the fan and fast, that she's at least helping a village attempt to stay on their feet in the mess of it all.

"You do understand, Genna-sama, yourself and the rest of the village," Sakura says slowly, "that Shinobi is not synonymous with good? Not all Shinobi are like me and would help out a such a small village, no matter how kind. In fact, I've met too many people that would see such kindness as a sign of weakness and try to exploit it. While I'm all for helping you guys defend yourselves, if I'm going to train shinobi, I'm training shinobi." Sakura stares at the old man, wondering if he was understanding without her having to come right out and say the nitty-gritty of it.

Genna nods. "I understand," he says, and something tells Sakura that he really does. A man, his age, has probably heard, if not seen, what a shinobi can do before even Sakura showed up. In all honesty, Sakura did flick a man almost three yards away from herself. If that doesn't say, 'Shinobi are dangerous' Sakura doesn't know what will.

"I have been hearing about shinobi all my life," Genna says, stroking his beard again. "I've heard great evils come from such power, but also great good. You yourself are a shining example of that."

Sakura wanted to point out that it wasn't a sign of character (or perhaps it was and she just didn't see it that way) that she did those kind things, but merely that she had a good master that beat the proper level of common sense into her head. Helping everyone and anyone was important. Perhaps it was a sign of character that such things came so easily, but Sakura remembers that before the medical generosity, there was fake annoyance, and before even that, timidness and fear. But perhaps that's how Sakura has evolved. Either way, she's happy about the type of person that she has become. And she has the people of her life to thank for that becoming a possibility.

"Then what is our next move?" Sakura asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Could you accompany me to the town meeting? I think everything you have to say, should be said before the masses. They will not fully understand if not," Genna says, making to stand. It takes Sakura almost as long to stand as it did Genna, which was a little embarrassing. But once they're both on their feet, Genna leads the way out of the Inn and through the small village. They make it to a nicely lit up home, "mine," Genna says, smiling.

Sakura makes a note of the lack of proper lighting around the village. They obviously have generators powering their village of some sort due to the lights and power in the homes, but there isn't anything outside. Sakura is so used to the lanterns placed outside homes and work places that lit up the village even in the darkness and that there was always some place in Konoha that was awake whereas this village went to bed at ten and was up again at five to start the day. It was just so strange to Sakura.

It's a nice little cottage fit for one. All the village parents are gathered in the cozy looking living room. Many appear to have brought their own chairs to accommodate the larger number of people than the decently sized room should be able to hold. Two large couches and a nice reclining chair are pushed up against the walls and a circle around the room, being mindful of the large, floor-to-ceiling book shelf and an old sewing table. The room, filled up with about thirty adults ranging from the youngest, probably Kyouya who was seventeen all the way up to Genna and the woman that was teaching the kids, probably in her seventies, gets quiet as Sakura walks into it.

Sakura takes a moment to appreciate that they are trying to make it appear as formal as possible, but there was thirty of them, in a small house with barely enough room for just over two-thirds with a seat.

It doesn't take Sakura any time to locate both Mama and Kyouya. Mama is sitting one of the couches between the woman that sells the vegetables just across the street from the inn and an older man that has red skin from years of working out in the field and probably being perpetually sunburnt. Kyouya is back behind the older adults, standing like all the other younger men and women. He waves a bit at her when her eyes land on her. Sakura smiles back in response.

Genna walks over to the only unoccupied seat, the comfy reclining chair. He settles into it easily and sighs, relaxing a bit as the chair practically swallows him from years of molding his body shape into the fabric. Sakura leans against the wall just inside the room, between the small break in the chairs so that she can see everyone and they can all see her.

"Look," Sakura says, when everyone remained quite, waiting for her to speak, "as I'm sure Mama has already gotten around to telling you all, I am willing to take residence up the hill as the doctor for this village and I am also willing to take your children on as students and train them in the ways of a shinobi but you all must understand that this is a large undertaking. Because the village is so small there is a lot of things everyone has to think about before they decide if this is what they want to do."

"Where do we start?" The man beside Mama asks, leaning forward in his seat a bit.

"Well, simplest thing..." Sakura says slowly. Honestly, she knew nothing about running a village. She can only go off of what she assumes. So many things back home were put in place long before she was even bore so it was there for her convenience. These people won't have that. They will literally have to scrap by at the bottom of the barrel until things can become steady.

"Okay, one of the most essential things for a shinobi to have is their weapons. Do we have any forge masters or metal craftsmen or smith?" Sakura asks, looking around the people, seeing them all looking around too. "Am I to assume by your stunned silence that that's a no?"

"Wait," a woman, probably in her early thirties standing two people away from Kyouya turns to look across the room at a brown haired woman next to Genna, "Reimei, isn't your brother a smith in Kyakubostu town?"

The brown haired woman, probably in her late thirties perks up. "Yes! That's right! I could send a letter to him and see if he could make a stop by," she looks over at Sakura. "Would that be okay?"

Sakura nods. "For now, we will take as much as we can get. If he says he can help, I'll send him samples of my weapons so that he can make duplicates, alright?"

Reimei beams, her fingers running anxiously along her yukata as if excited to write that letter to her brother.

Sakura takes a moment to think, making a mental list in her head, suddenly wishing that she had the foresight to bring more books on the beginning training for shinobi life. Sakura knew that she would be raising a shinobi but the thought hadn't occurred to her. But she did bring many advanced medical books for when someone reaches that level. Eye roll.

"Is there an abundance of hay that we can used to maneuver into practice dummies?" Sakura looks around the room again.

"Yes," Kyouya says, face lit up in excitement. "We have a lot of hay. I can help out if you need me to."

Sakura winks at him appreciatively. He blushes. "Excellent. We will also need a proper school built up. Space for the dummies to be used as target practice and efficient classrooms."

"We can repair the school and make it good as new," one of the men says. "It shouldn't be too difficult. We can also make a small clinic out of the home on the hill, per Malanma's suggestion." Mama beams at Sakura when the girl's large green eyes flicker over to her. Sakura smiles back in return before looking over the people in general, noting their growing excitement.

"There is something that I think I should have asked first off," Sakura asks slowly, adjusting her position against the wall a bit. "Do you guys even want this to be a ninja village? Because if you want protection but not want it to be a ninja village, I can train anyone of your choosing, young or old self defense in hand to hand as well as weapon against weapon. The undertaking for a ninja village is a big responsibility and I don't want this to be a surprise..."

"What is the difference?" Reimei asks. "I mean, between protecting ourselves and becoming a ninja village?"

"Well, you can continue to be the same as you've always been, but you'll just have a shinobi-trained militia to protect you, or you will have shinobi force dedicated to protecting this as the home village," Sakura says, looking down at the woman. "They both have their perks. Because this land isn't predominantly controlled by shinobi then there isn't an actual requirement for shinobi presence but, like in my case, one could pass through at any given time. In the same breath, even if that ends up being the case, that doesn't necessarily mean that the village would be in danger of attack. Militia men and women would be on par with bandits."

There is a long moment of silence, before Genna asks, finally speaking up since he and Sakura arrived, "And a shinobi against bandits?"

Sakura didn't know how to say it without sounding full of herself, so she just says it, "To be honest, I could have killed all of those bandits without an issue and I am by far not the most powerful shinobi in the world."

Sakura watches in silence as her words begin to slowly sink into the room and everyone in it. A lot of looks are shared throughout the people gathered. There is some soft murmuring through out the group, not knowing that Sakura can easily hear everything that they are saying. Yet another perk to living in a village with shinobi, the number of liberties, like being able to safely whisper amongst your friends starts to get very difficult.

"A shinobi village doesn't sound too bad," another man says, shrugging his shoulder. "I mean, it sounds like it's going to be hard work trying to get it off it's feet, but this village has needed to pick itself up since it's founding. Better late than never, right?" He looks around the room.

There are murmurs of agreement around the room. Another man turns to Sakura, "And what else would we need to start building this ninja village?"

"Aside from ninja?" Sakura says teasingly. But then her face adapts a serious look. "But what makes a ninja village flourish is not only the renown that it's shinobi gets among it's enemies, but also it's allies. That means that we need to get major revenue flowing through this village. Do you know what that means?" Sakura asks, looking around the room at the excited and determent faces of the people.

"I have to spend more time in the field?" Kyouya guesses, looking a bit chest fallen.

Sakura huffs out a laugh. "No, goofball. That means we take in missions. Give me some time to train up the kids a bit, but they should be able to do simple D-ranked missions around here and nearby villages for those that are old enough, like Kyouya, if he's still interested in being a shinobi."

"What are D-ranked missions?" Another woman asks.

"The mission list goes from D-rank being the simplest and S-ranked being the most difficult with C-rank, B-rank, and A-rank between them. Each rank is harder to accomplish compared to the one before it. But you asked about a D-rank mission. So basically, you pay shinobi to do odd jobs around the village to earn money both for themselves and for the village. So, say you want help out in the fields and pay for a simple one day D-rank mission. That would be about, let's guess 300 yen for instance, a portion of that would be taxed by the village and putt into it's bank while the rest go to the participating shinobi's pockets. Does that make sense?" Sakura asks, looking around the room.

"So, D-rank are suppose to stay within the village since it's for new fledgling shinobi, but since the village is so small, in order to start pulling in any sort of revenue, we'll have to let that go for now. C-rank missions are anything that takes you out of the village with minimal combat possibilities. Or facing low level opponents. Like bandits," Sakura says meaningfully. "B-rank missions are for missions the pit out ninja against other ninja of chunin rank or lower."

At the confused looks on their faces, Sakura explains, "Shinobi ranking goes from gennin; who are fresh from the academy, chunin; the standard rank for shinobi that most shinobi obtain and maintain, special jounin; they have high ranking skills that exceed that of chunin level, but are not well enough rounded in all areas to make it to the final rank, jounin; which are the elite of the elite. From there, you find yourself a kage. The leader of the village and the most powerful shinobi. But none that needs to be focused on for now, considering all this village has is a chunin." She makes a gesture toward herself, as if it wasn't clear who she was referring to.

There are some more murmurings through the villagers. Kyouya steps away for a moment to grab another chair and brings it over for Sakura to sit. She smiles at him in appreciation before joining the circle, crossing her right leg over her left.

"It's kind of complex, the shinobi system, but I know it very well," Sakura says. And she should, she spent the past three years in the office of her Hokage, watching the uppermost level of their government working for almost ever single day. So, to be honest, maybe Sakura did know a thing or two about leading a village just from watching her master.

"Anything else we should start thinking about?" the man next to Mama asks.

Sakura scratches her head in thought. "Um, weapons, missions, the Academy, a hospital..." Sakura runs a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. "I'll need chakra paper and we'll need to dedicate certain lands to training fields for the shinobi. We'll need to start accumulating a jutsu library and a regular library. Attractions that encourage people to come to our village to increase notoriety people's willingness to come and join our village." Sakura drops her hand onto her back and leans back in her chair a bit.

"Before most of this is possible, we need to focus on training the shinobi and making this place more appealing for people to come and live in, thus increasing the amount of children in the academy, putting more shinobi on the field and so on," Sakura says, waving her hand around. "By my estimate, there was roughly fifty people in this village. My graduating class at the Academy was almost thirty. So, that's not a lot."

"So," Kyouya says slowly, standing just behind Sakura's left shoulder, "are we going to do this? I mean it sound like quite the endeavor, but... we can do it! I believe in us." He grins brightly, putting a hand on the back of Sakura's chair.

"Well," an older woman, probably in her fifties with graying dark hair, says slowly, "before we jump the gun, what are the disadvantages?"

Sakura raises an eyebrow. "Of being part of a shinobi village?" she asks for clarification. The woman nods. "Well, for right now, the hardest part is going to be making this idea into a real life thing. This isn't going to be something that can be accomplished in just a year or two, this has to be hard core dedication that may not pay off. I don't know. It's all about luck, chance and dedication. Then there is always the chance of getting into disputes with other Hidden Villages, but being this small and out in the middle of no where, I think we should be fine, to be honest." But then again, what did Sakura know? She wasn't a damn politician.

"We can do it," Kyouya says confidently. His enthusiasm makes some of the older people in the room smile a bit. It seems like Kyouya is a pretty loveable guy from the time that Sakura's known him. She can only imagine what he was like when he was younger. In a way this entire village is kind of child like. They've lived so long in seclusion, whether by their choice or not, that the woes of the outside world almost doesn't seem real to any of them. They probably didn't even know that until just a few months ago, the world was about to be encased in a very powerful genjutsu.

It was both refreshing and unnerving to think that. Refreshing because such horrible and scary things could have happened and they all would have lived the rest of their lives in blissful ignorance. A peaceful end without ever knowing what horrible things really went on in the real world. It's like the badness didn't touch here and in way, Sakura felt bad for introducing it to them.

But it's also unnerving because in retrospect, this really isn't all that far away from the Five Great Nations. So the fact that they have no idea what's going on just a few short countries away, if something even worse then dead God's are coming, this doesn't bode well for the entire world. Once again, it shows just how little Sakura knows about this "great evil".

It's right at this moment, while everyone else is discussing amongst each other that Sakura really got to think about what was happening. If she helps forge this place into a Hidden Village, then she's got to commit to this place. She's basically promising them that she's going to stick around long enough that this place will be able to sustain itself. Or at least ensure that they get on the right path. It's starting to look like when Sakura has the Fourth, she's not just going to high tail it out of here, she's got to stay and help build this village, not just for her sake, or really for theirs, it's for everyone.

Thinking about it now, the Five Great Nations lost so much in this most recent war. So many shinobi and supplies. While the unity and morale amongst all five nations has never been this high, at least in a long time, the shinobi numbers overall have probably not been this low in an even longer time. If what Sakura say when she was in the war was half the people who got hurt or died on the battlefield, she'd be amazed. Countless died. So many so, that the numbers are staggering. But even more lost their ability to continue with their shinobi lives. Missing limbs or broken spines. Destroyed major organs that will take years to recover from, and maybe not even then. So much was lost in this war.

Only for another one to breathing at the back of their necks so soon.

Sakura knows nothing about the enemy; what they look like, what they want, what they can do, when their coming, or the true state of the Five Great Nations in general. Right now, Sakura has to start focusing on the future. She has to keep training, spiritually for now, because being pregnant is going to really hamper her taijutsu, and maybe learn some ninjutsu. She has to help build this village and steer it into the right direction.

The more she can learn about this side of Iwa and the Land of Earth, the more allies she can bring to her side. If she can make connections to other villages, both civilian oriented and Hidden Villages, then perhaps this village can become a link to the Five Great Nations. Learn more in-depth about this part of the world that hardly has any interaction with Sakura's true home in Konoha.

Sakura might not like being away from the Hidden Leaf, but Kami damn it all if she's not going to make the best of this.

Admittedly, this is a bit selfish on her part. Doing something for these people that will ultimately help the Hidden Leaf, but Sakura doesn't have time to feel shame and worry over that now. She has other things she needs to focus on. Because, unlike what she was saying earlier, this isn't going to become a ninja village. This is going to become a Hidden Shinobi village. She will do whatever it takes to make this a reality. She will protect her home and all her allies, even the people of this village, with all her might. And she might just need an army to do it.

"So," Sakura says, looking around at all the faces of her new allies, "are we going to do this then?" Sakura had no idea what she was going to do if they decided not to while she wasn't listening. Maybe go to an open plot of land, buy it from the local Daimyo and make the village there. Although that would be disappointing because right here already had a start, but Sakura would abide by their wishes. They've suffered too much already without Sakura adding to the issue.

Genna looks around the room at the other people in the village, nodding their heads. He looks over at Sakura and smiles kindly. "Yes. It appears as though we are."


	8. The Little Boy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Thanks for all your support so far, everyone! Plans for this new village can be seen on the horizon! This chapter is a little slow but it'll start picking up soon, I promise! Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: None really, maybe language.
> 
> Disclaimer: Goddess OF Death came up with the original idea and approached me to write it.
> 
> Word Count: 5,670

Sakura was happy to see, 3 days later, that the hype about starting a Hidden Village hadn't lost it's appeal. Sakura took over for Ria, the old woman that used to take care of the children and told them about the history of the Land of Endless Fields, and Sakura taught the children about the fundamentals about Shinobi life, and they were enraptured. To them, this was something of fairytale. The eldest of the students, Kyouya and a girl names Leila, who was also seventeen with him. They all gather in the open field where the training ground will eventually take place, as the school is being rebuilt, Sakura didn't want to wait for them to finish before she went and started training.

Sakura wrote out a detailed layout for the Academy and her home/clinic. She helped all of her students how to unlock their chakra, including Kyouya and Leila, and as to be expected from all children of civilian heritage, there was no one of particular impression, but Sakura had high hopes for the youngest of the bunch, six year old Heito, the youngest son of Momomi. She was the woman in her early thirties that suggested Reimei contact her brother about getting weapons crafted.

Heito, being so young and so determent, would have significantly more time to increase his chakra and control than the others. Since she unlocked their chakra, she has stressed the importance and even dedicated an hour of every day during lessons, to meditation. At this point, Sakura has no delusions that their chakra controls will be shit, but she wants to at least try and get them up to about average levels of chakra before she even considers letting them graduate.

It's not going to be like how Sakura went through the Academy. It isn't going to be a shit-ton of busy work and history lessons, no, she was going to teach them the essentials of a shinobi life. Most of them already knew everything they needed to about their history as a village, not it was time to just dive deep and hard into the life of a shinobi and the skills that they need to acquire. Before any of them can even hope to graduate, they must first have at least average chakra levels for a genin, enough control over the chakra to not blow all of it on a simple jutsu, are required to learn the clone jutsu, substitution jutsu, and the transformation jutsu, along with one, low level elemental or genjutsu to put something for attack in their arsenals.

Sakura doesn't think that the training for the students was wrong it's just that it left Sakura, who had no real aspiration nor parents skilled enough to teach her many different types of jutsu or stress the true importance in being able to protect oneself in the shinobi world, was left as a sever disadvantage. She was not going to put them in the same situation as herself. Because even though they will graduate into genin - at some point, hopefully, Sakura has to be optimistic - they won't be separated out to different sensei's that can look out for them, no, they were still in Sakura's care, just a bit more independent and capable of more freedoms then before, like taking on simple missions.

Sakura knows it's going to be difficult for any of them to just outright learn an elemental ninjutsu or some form of genjutsu without a library to hold the information, so Sakura has stressed to the men that have deviated their attention from the fields to work on construction for the village until they've gotten all the essentials for the moment done, that after the school and her home/clinic is done that a library and someone to run it will have to be next. As soon as she told them that, she immediately asked if they could add it as a third portion to her home. She was the shinobi in the village and as it was shinobi sensitive information, she should overlook it.

Genna didn't seem to mind, which Sakura was thankful for.

"Sakura-sensei?" Little eight year old Hitomi, a girl with bright white-blue eyes and blond hair, raises her hand and calls out for the pinkette's attention. Sakura nods for her to continue. "What does meditation do again?"

Sakura smiles, the wind pushing her pink hair around her shoulders. "That's a good question, Hitomi, it's always good to refresh on things we've already learned to make sure that we understand it. Don't be afraid to ask questions, okay everyone? If you don't, I have no way of knowing whether you understand or not. So, as for your question, Hitomi, does anyone know the answer?"

Leila's hand shoots up, immediately. Sakura feels a smile cross her lips. Leila, a girl with long black hair and gray-green eyes, reminded her of herself, even though technically, Leila was born first.

"Yes, Leila?" Sakura says, adjusting herself from where she was on the ground, sitting at eye level with the fifteen children twelve and under and the two seventeen year olds.

They all sat in a large circle so everyone could see everyone. Sakura liked it like this, it put all of them on the same level, older and younger. No one was somehow better than the others.

"Within a ninja's body is a Core, which is located by the human heart, this core produces chakra into the body. Around the core are a series of spring-like chakra tubes connected to the core called Chakra Coils. The coils regulate the amount of chakra that can be filtered into your body at once. The larger the coils the more chakra that you can have," she says, smiling brightly.

"That's very good background information, Leila," Sakura says, then looks around the circle. "Yotoru, do you remember what meditation does to the coils?"

The nine year old boy, grins sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Meditation... uh, it compresses the chakra within the coils, pressing into a tight ball inside the coil, when you finish meditating and relax the chakra they forcefully expand the coils giving you more chakra... right?" He looks up at Sakura, uncomfortable.

Sakura raises an eyebrow, smiling. "I don't know, you tell me."

"It's true..." he looks around the circle at some of the bobbing heads of his peers. "It's true," he says, more sure this time.

Sakura smiles. "Good. Now, speaking of meditation, everyone, get ready and find your center. No goofing off, I can feel your chakra and I'll know if you aren't meditating."

"Yes, Sakura-sensei!" The kids and two young adults chorus.

Sakura watches as all of her students get comfortable, cross their legs, close their eyes and straighten their postures. Sakura goes from student to student, feeling their chakra from where she's sitting slowly starting to pull back to their coils, pulling tighter and tighter.

"Remember, guys, feel the center of your body, pull the invisible force closer and closer and press it tightly there, clear your mind of everything else other than pulling your chakra closer and closer to your coils. Fill them up, confuse them into believing you have no chakra in your body, that will start them. Make them start to make more chakra." Sakura pauses to pull herself to her feet, which is steadily becoming more and more difficult to do as her pregnancy progresses. "As first generation shinobi, you will need to focus three times as hard as a clan born child in order to get your chakra levels up to appropriate levels. Yes, that's good, everyone..."

She smiles when everyone was finally pulled into their trances. Sakura turns and heads away from them, glancing up at the sky and setting her internal clock for an hour before she has to return. As much as Sakura would love to be able to just sit around and meditate with them, she has so much more to focus on than just the kids. Sakura makes her way back to the bustling little village, practically beaming at all the happy and excited faces of the villagers she passes.

"Sakura," Reimei says, stepping into Sakura's path just outside Mama's Inn. "Genna has asked to see you in regards to the letter to the Daimyo of the Land of Endless Fields. For whenever you're free."

Sakura nods. "Thanks Reimei, I'll got see him now, then." Reimei smiles, patting Sakura's shoulder before heading into the Inn to talk to Mama. Sakura looks around for a moment, wondering where Genna could be. She would feel silly asking Reimei now, so she just assumes he's home and heads there. Because the village is so small, Sakura makes it to Genna's house in no time. She lifts her hand and wraps on it wither her knuckles and waits.

"Come in!" Genna calls from inside the house.

Sakura opens the door and peaks her head in. "Genna-san? It's Sakura. Are you looking for me?"

"Sakura, yes, come in, my dear. I'm in the kitchen," Genna says, calling back to her. Sakura steps into the house, closing the door behind her and walks into the living room. The two couches are pushed back into place away from the walls. Sakura walks through the living room and into the kitchen. Genna is sitting at a small, four person wooden table, hunched over fine parchment with ink and a brush next to him, looking very professional. Sakura walks over to the table and sits down in the chair next to Genna.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Sakura asks, pushing some of her pink hair out of her eyes.

Genna smiles at Sakura. "Yes, my dear. One moment more and I'll let you read this. It's my letter to the Daimyo. I wanted you to read over it before I sent it off to see what you think. Do you mind?"

Sakura shakes her head. "No at all, Genna-san. Thank you so much for doing this."

"Not at all, my dear. I have some connections in the capital city," Genna says, rubbing his beard thoughtfully before writing more down on the nice paper. They were smooth, elegant strokes that Saskura didn't know the shaky old man could do. But his movements are precise and well done. Sakura's not even sure she could write that nicely.

"Sure, Genna-san. Where did you learn to write like that. So professional," Sakura says kindly. "What did you do before all becoming the elder of this village?" She asks.

"I was born in the capital city here in the Land of Endless Fields," Genna says off-handedly, looking back down at his writing again.

This was not what Sakura expected to hear. She thought, like most people here in this little village, he was born and raised here, but to learn that he was from the capital of this country and moved to this small, no name village, was unexpected.

Sakura shifted a bit in her seat to look at Genna more. "That's unexpected," Sakura admits, but judging by Genna's little chuckle, he doesn't seem to mind her words, "I would love to learn about it sometime, if that's okay with you."

Genna smiles kindly, reaching up to stroke his beard again. "My life story is not an interesting one, but if he need to kill an afternoon, I can tell you sometime." He chuckles again, as if recalling something amusing, before adding a bit more to his letter and signing it. He finally lowers the brush by the ink, and pushing the paper away a bit to give it some time for the ink to dry.

"Would you at least tell me about your connections in the capital?" Sakura asks, running her fingers through her hair, making a mental note to keep an eye on the time.

Genna leans back in his chair a bit, stroking his beard. "I have a few friends and some family that live there, but I have a friend in the samurai that can make sure my letter gets to the Daimyo quickly."

Sakura's eyebrows raise up. "A friend in the samurai? Come on, Genna-san, you can't just say that and then not fill me in on the details."

Genna laughs. It's a hardy, happy chuckle that Sakura had to wonder just how long it's been since he's laughed like that. With all the bad hands dealt to this small village from as far as Sakura knew is a lot to take in from someone who wasn't even born in this village. Sakura has to wonder what brought him, someone born in the capital, would move out to this tiny, no name village.

"Some day," Genna says, seemingly amused. "Can you read this and let me know what you think? It's just a formal request to speak with Lady Daimyo."

Sakura nods, reaching out and pulling the paper over to her to read, making sure not to touch the ink should it still be wet.

Lady Callia Satomiyashi,

As a humble servant of the Land of Endless Fields, I would like to formally request a meeting with my lady at her earliest conviniance. I have some thing that I wish to discuss with you about. I am sorry for being presumptuous and sending this letter directly to you. I know not how much you are aware of, my lady, but there have been a recent string of bandit attacks all around the land. Just recently out village was victim of such dastardly men, when we were rescued by a traveling shinobi that has offered to take residence here in our village to become it's protector for the time being. She purposed an excellent idea that we would be grateful to have the opportunity to talk with you about.

We would like to discuss with you a proposition that would hopefully benefit the Land of Endless Fields overall. I'm not sure how much should be said over such unsecure channels, but I assure you that it is well worth your time, my lady. Please consider our proposition. We were hoping that some time soon we would be able to travel the capital and speak with you about this in person. Let us know as soon as you can if, and when, you are free to meet with us, should it please you.

The villagers and myself are grateful for you taking the time to read this and taking our request into consideration. We humbly hope to hear from you soon in regards to a meeting. I wish you and your family the best of luck and health in the years to follow. Best wishes to yourself and those within the capital.

May your lineage live on forever,

Genna Kirimo.

Then there is a neat signature at the bottom of the page. And coordinates of the village. And the kanji sign for 'Wood'.

Sakura nods slowly, tucking that small bit of information away for later. "Sounds good enough to me. I haven't had a lot of experience with dealing with Daimyo. So she's a lady named Callia?"

Genna hums in affirmation. "Beautiful young lady in her late 20's. Her father, the previous Daimyo, got sick and passed away about ten years ago, so she took the job young and has tried hard to be a good leader, but unfortunately," Genna sighs, "she is a sweet and gullible girl and much slips past her while she sits upon her throne. It's a real shame too, she's too sweet." Genna shakes his head, looking genuinely sad by that.

Sakura twirls a strand of pink hair around her finger, looking at the elder man thoughtfully. "Well, I think it looks good. As I said, you would probably know more about this than I would. But in my novice opinion, it looks good." Sakura stands up, cracking her back a bit and wincing at the dull pain. "I'd best be going now. I have to waddle to Mama's and pick up some material for class and get back to the kids. It takes me twice as long to get places now than before." Sakura laughs. "I'd best get going."

Genna nods. "When you stop by Malanma's, could you ask her to send Hiko to see me. I need to have him run this letter. Could you ask her to send him my way?"

Sakura gives him two thumbs up before heading into the living room, behind the couch and out to the front door. Sakura makes her way over to the Inn, waggling her fingers in greeting to Mama, and Reimei, who was sitting behind the counter with the older woman. They both yell out greetings as Sakura makes her way passed and climbs up the stairs, out of breath by the time she reaches the top.

"Good lord, if I get any more pregnant than this, I'm going to have to sleep on the floor down stairs before long," Sakura mutters herself, breathlessly. She holds her sides, taking slow, deep breaths. Once she's able to regain her composure, she heads into her room, deactivating her security seals, before grabbing her needed scroll from her bag and heading back out, sealing the room back up again. Sakura goes through the long trek back down the stairs, waves at the ladies again, before heading out the door and back toward the children and two young adults.

 

Sakura looks around at the collection of students, all staring back at her. Her stomach is already twisting in excitement. It's been only a few days, but her students have been so dedicated, that they are already starting to pick up the basics of shinobi life, and their chakra levels are starting to show growth, even so soon. It's only because Sakura's looking really hard that she can tell, but it's still not a lot in any form of comparable measurement, but Sakura is already glowing with pride for them.

"Good job, you guys," Sakura says, smiling around the circle. "I can already see you starting to improve. Keep meditating at home. Tomorrow I'll show you the importance of balance. Class dismissed!" All the kids whine, but get up anyway, ready to head home. "Kyouya," Sakura calls, holding her hands out to him. "Help a lady up!"

Kyouya nods, jumping up and walking over to her, taking both of Sakura's hands and pulls the pink haired girl to her feet. "Better?" He asks, grinning broadly.

Sakura smiles up at him. "Yes. Ah, Kyouya, Leila," Sakura says, waving over the eldest girl. She obeys, stepping up next to Kyouya.

"Yes, Sakura-sensei?" Leila asks, straightening her back.

"This isn't so much for you, Kyouya, but I feel I have to say it to both of you. You have unlocked your chakra, so it's about time that the two of you begin to grow your physical strength as well. Because Kyouya spends a great deal of time working out in the field, you already have a good head start on upper body strength, but you can always improve. But you need to also focus on cardio. Leila, you need to focus on all aspects. I'll show you basic techniques for work out tomorrow morning during class. Physical training also improves the growth of chakra, a lot slower than meditation, but it'll also help. I just want the two of you to get into the mindset," Sakura says, folding her arms behind her back.

The two of Sakura's oldest students nod, looking determent.

"Yes, ma'am," they both say, looking down at her with squared shoulders.

Sakura smiles. "Good. Dismissed."

They both nod, smiling down at her, before heading their own ways back to the little hamlet village. Sakura rolls her shoulders and follows, heading over to the school and peaking inside to see it's well on it's way to becoming an actual building.

"Kenshi-san?" Sakura calls. "Hi guys," she says when she sees two of the men that were working at the first classroom she came across.

"Hey Sakura," they both call back, pausing in what their doing to look at her.

"Have you guys seen Kenshi-san?" Sakura asks, leaning against the door frame. "He said he would escort me to the nearest town today as soon as school was out. Do you guys know where he is?"

"Three doors down," the elder of the two of them, a fifty year old man named Kijio says.

Sakura nods. "Thank you." She waves her hands in farewell before leaving the room and walking down the hall to the third door down and peak her head in there, looking around at the area - that can't be considered a room because it barely has four walls - until she spots the man she's looking for. "Ah, Kenshi-san!"

Kenshi was the tall, perpetually burnt man. He has short brown hair with green eyes. He's an older man who was quite and kept mostly to himself, but has a protective feel about him. He was one of the first men to step between the bandits and the villagers, trying to protect him. He has little to say but when he does speak, he's blunt and to the point.

"Sakura," he says, straightening up from what he was measuring on the floor. He runs the back of his hand over his forehead to wipe some sweat away. "Is class over already?"

Sakura nods. "Yup. Are you busy?"

Kenshi shakes his head, wiping his brow again. "No, I can call it a day. Is that alright, Yoto?"

One of the other men in the room looks up and waves his hand dismissively. "Go on, Kenshi. We've got this. We've already gotten a good portion of this done. We're making good progress. So go, we're fine." Then he turns back to what he was doing.

Kenshi nods and looks over at Sakura. "Let me pack up and I'll be right with you, okay?"

Sakura smiles. "I'm going to head for the hill. At the rate I walk you might just beat me there even with my head start."

Kenshi huffs, amused, shaking his head. "Of course."

Sakura waggles her fingers in goodbye before turning and heading out of the hopefully-soon-to-be Academy and away from the village towards the hill (which isn't really a hill, it's just the only elevated area for miles, it's more a joke than anything) and huffs her way to the top. She turns back toward the village and takes a good look at it. A little breathless, and putting a hand on her swelling belly.

This is probably the best view she's had of the village since she got to it. There is a road that attaches to the major highway running through the Land of Endless Fields that runs parallel to the river that runs alongside the river. The village is contained to the left side of the river (from the road leading into the village, not the opposite side of the village that Sakura's on) with most of the woods on this side of the river cleared out for the fields.

But first, back to the village. The first building on the left side of the road is a few homes, Genna's being one of them. About four buildings in is Mama's inn on the right side. Across the street is Reimei's house. There is a couple of small shops that some of the villagers own. The Academy that's under construction on it's own separate street that splits off from the original going closer to the lake, which ultimately will work in Sakura's favor when she teaches her students to water walk, and on the other side of the split in the road, closer to Sakura, is the large storage container for the grain that they harvest.

Where the road splits in two, directly in front of it is the fields that the men work at most of the time, while the venders are run by the village women. In the few days that Sakura has been in this village there has been hardly any outsiders that came to visit, or even pass through. It's truly out of the way.

Behind the homes, there is a small dip in the land that leads to the flowing river. On the other side of the river is a vast expanse of land that is peppered with trees. It's not thick with trees like in the Hidden Leaf, but enough for it to be more than a few trees but less than a forest. There's a word for it. The Woods. Yes, that may also explain the kanji for 'Wood' at the end of Genna's message. It must be the name of this village, or at least an identifier for it so that people know what place other people are talking about.

Maybe there is still a lot Sakura needs to learn about this little hamlet village. That makes Sakura smile a little.

"Are you ready to go, Sakura-san?" Kenshi asks, walking up to Sakura in a new shirt and freshly applied cologne. "Shall we go?"

Sakura nods, making a sweeping motion with her arm. "Lead the way."

Kenshi leads Sakura back down the hill - if it really could be called that, which it can't - through a knee high open field, Kenshi offers his arm for Sakura to help her walk through it without falling on her face, to another road that wraps around the village over a mile off.

"Sorry," Kenshi says once they finally reach the road. "We should have gone around instead of straight through the field." He rubs the back of his head with his free hand.

Sakura laughs, shaking her head. "Don't worry, I'm fine. I might be pregnant, but I'm still a shinobi. I have a lot more stamina than a normal person. Don't mind my breathlessness. I'm a bit out of shape," Sakura jokes, grinning up at the older man.

He shakes his head, huffing through his nose again, letting go of Sakura's hand now that she can walk on her own. They walk down the road in silence for a while until they reach another village, larger than the one that Kenshi and Sakura just came from. It probably housed over a hundred people with a more lively market-place that's reminiscent of Konoha's bustling a bit with people. Less than what would be found in Sakura's home village, but it's nice to be reminded of her home. It brought a small smile to her face.

Sakura catches Kenshi's inquisitive look in the corner of her eye. "Sorry," she says, looking over at him, "this noise just reminds me of home. It's nicely quiet in your village I never realized home much I miss home."

"Why don't you go back?" Kenshi asks, nonintrusive, just soft, honest curiosity.

Sakura shakes her head, looking back toward the village and the larger group of people walking about the stalls. "It's complicated. What can you tell me about this village? There is a decent bit of foot traffic here. Any local attractions?"

Kenshi shrugs his shoulders. "They've got a local toy maker that's pretty famous in the area. It attracts a crowd, I suppose."

"Ah," Sakura murmurs, eyebrows nearing her hairline in surprise. "That's cool. Power to them."

The two walk through the crowd that has started dying down since it's starting to get late. They walk from stall to stall, looking in on the wares of in front of them. Sakura enjoys seeing the culture shift here as opposed to back home. Kenshi walks with Sakura patiently as she moved around, looking around in interest. There is a bit of traffic to squeeze through before Sakura comes to a stop, seeing a little boy bounce around from person to person, asking something and holding up something Sakura can't quite see and then moving on.

"Is there anything in particular that you are looking for, Sakura-san?" Kenshi asks.

Sakura shakes her head. "No, not really. I just wanted to learn how to get here and what this place has to offer. There may be some things that we could use to help further training for the kids. Plus, even in small, remote villages, venders manage to pick up shinobi gear and scrolls without knowing what they got. If we are going to start a real village, then we will start needing achieves and sometimes you'll find some really important things." Sakura laughs, running a hand through her pink hair, noting that it's definitely getting longer.

"Excuse me, ma'am." The little boy appears right in front of Sakura. He couldn't have been older than eight or nine. "Do you have a moment to talk?" He asks, looking up at Sakura with the most beautiful eyes Sakura has ever seen. They were large and bright purple with what looks like an explosion of gold from the center pupil. He stares up at her innocently before those beautiful eyes widen. "You're-"

A movement catches Sakura's eye. She glances up to see a very familiar scoundrel leaning over one of the stalls, sneering at the old man behind the counter.

"Sorry, sweetie. One second," Sakura says, putting a hand on that little boy's shoulder to nudge him out of the way a bit so she can walk over to tall, scrawny bandit that Sakura beat down a few days ago, up and about. Which was a bit impressive, in Sakura's opinion.

"So where's the money, old bones? If you want to keep from any more... accidents, like the one last week, you best keep up with the payments," the bandit says, glaring down at the old man.

He shakes, looking around for someone to take notice, but everyone is in their own world. Like in the other village, this is probably the norm and for just a moment, the rest of the village would like to pretend it's not happening and live in false ignorance. Except Sakura, she can see this very well. And she isn't going to stand for it.

"Ahh," the old man says in a paper-thin voice, shaking voice. He looks around helplessly. "Someone..."

"No one is listening, old bones," the bandit says arrogantly, lip curling.

"I am," Sakura growls, stepping up behind the bandit. He whips around, hand raised to deck the pink haired girl when his entire body freezes at the sight of her. His scent reaches Sakura's nose, making her cringe. Seems he still hasn't found that shower yet.

"Y-Y-You're-" He gasps, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

"When I told you and your goons to leave, I meant the country, not the immediate area," Sakura snaps, reaching out and grabbing his arm. She hooks her foot behind his and forces him to drop to one knee before twisting his arm awkwardly, making him cry out in pain. "Allow me to make this a little more clear," Sakura snarls, leaning in close. "If I so much as smell you on the wind like I did today, I will break your knee caps," she leans in closer, letting her KI hit him full force, making his trembling in fear, "with your own face. Get me?"

"I-I-" he stammers.

"I don't care," Sakura snaps. "Leave. Now. This is your last chance." She takes a little bit of sick pride in knowing that while she's pregnant, she' still scary as hell and knows how to use it to get what she wants.

He nods briskly, jumping to his feet, trying to run away, but Sakura pulls him back and glares up at him. "There is no where in the world you will be able to hide if you come back. Don't forget." He nods again, pulling away from Sakura and running as fast as he can away, reaching with one hand, the one that wasn't caught in the vise grip, and holds his side. So, it was a tough-guy act. He's not as okay as he let on.

Sakura waits until his dust trail settles before looking over to the old man. "Are you okay?"

He nods, looking relieved. "Thank you so much! Please, take this as a thank you. It's all I can offer." He picks up a pink bear stuffed animal about the size of Sakura's forearm and offers it to her.

"Aww," Sakura says, taking it. "This is the cutest thing ever! But I can't take this. I was just doing what I should-"

"No," he says, shaking his head. "I will be insulted if you give it back. Please, accept this! Please!"

"Okay," Sakura says, holding the bear to her chest. "Thank you, but really, it wasn't necessary."

"I wanted to do it," the old man says, "as thanks."

Sakura smiles, nodding slowly. "Well, you're welcome. And thank you for the doll."

"I knew it!"

Sakura turns around to see the little boy that Sakura met earlier with Kenshi by his side, both standing a few feet away from Sakura with big eyes. They and a few other gossiping people behind them must have seen Sakura's little nice verbal beat down.

"I knew it!" The little boy says again, face lit up in awe, he bounces closer, grabbing hold of Sakura's hand. "It's just as I thought, you're a shinobi!"


End file.
